A brand new United Nations report claims that manga, anime and video video games produced in Japan promote gender stereotypes and violence towards ladies and youngsters.
The report was printed following a private evaluation of Japan’s progress in implementing the Conference on the Elimination of All Types of Discrimination towards Girls (CEDAW).
The report identified that stereotypical gender roles are nonetheless a number one reason for violence towards ladies based mostly on gender or sexual orientation.
It went on to specific concern that types of media together with manga, anime and video video games “may probably encourage gender-based or sexual orientation-based violence towards ladies and women.”
It recommends that Japan implement “efficient authorized measures and monitoring applications” to deal with the manufacturing and distribution of such content material.
This has drawn criticism from Japanese politician Taro Yamada, who argued that the report’s claims are baseless and infringe on freedom of expression.
Yamada said on social media that no questions concerning manga, anime or video games have been raised in the course of the private evaluation, regardless of their specific point out within the closing report.
He has known as on CEDAW to make public the sources and proof behind their considerations and is contemplating making use of for retraction if this data just isn’t supplied.
The CEDAW report acknowledges Japan’s Fifth Fundamental Plan for Gender Equality, which goals to deal with unconscious gender bias.
Curiously sufficient, the newest report is akin to that of 2016. On the time, the committee had famous that the manga, anime and video games promoted sexual violence towards ladies and youngsters. The half about gender stereotypes was lacking.
Nonetheless, the committee stays involved concerning the persistence of gender stereotypes in Japanese society, particularly within the media and leisure.
The report highlights the prevalence of stereotypical representations of girls and women in varied types of media, together with tv, the web and social media, which the report says contribute to violence towards ladies.
The committee recommends that Japan develop complete methods to dismantle gender stereotypes, promote constructive portrayals of girls within the media, and successfully implement present authorized measures to deal with the manufacturing and distribution of media that reinforce dangerous stereotypes.
The report additionally highlights the necessity to deal with gender stereotypes towards minority teams in Japan, together with Korean ladies and women from Ainu, Burakumin and Zainichi.
It requires efficient measures to counter these stereotypes inside related authorities sectors.
The Conference on the Elimination of All Types of Discrimination towards Girls (CEDAW), adopted by the UN Common Meeting in 1979, is taken into account a global invoice for ladies’s rights. Consisting of a preamble and thirty articles, it defines discrimination towards ladies and supplies a framework for nationwide motion to eradicate it.
Supply: Taro Yamada on X
