Part Two: Report by Article

The stereotyped perception for gender roles that has been developed and standardized over a long time in the minds of the people has been the major obstacles in the formation of a gender-equal society.

In Article 16 of "the Basic Law for a Gender-equal Society," it is stipulated, "the State and local governments shall take appropriate measures through public relations activities, etc., to increase understanding of citizens on the basic principles." Following such premise, publicity and enlightenment activities for the correction of stereotyped perception of gender roles shall be promoted.

The Government designated the week from 23 to 29 June every year as "Gender Equality Week" in 2001 (decided by the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality on 26 December 2000), with the aim of increasing citizens' understanding of the goals and basic philosophy behind "the Basic Law for a Gender-equal Society," and stirring up in all levels and spheres of society the movement to undertake various measures towards the formation of a gender-equal society.

In the course of "Gender Equality Week," with the cooperation of local governments, women's groups and other related organizations, the government holds a "National Conference on the Creation of a Gender-equal Society" and conducts publicity and enlightenment activities such as the creation and distribution of PR posters.

Furthermore, for the purpose of making publications issued by public organizations appropriate by checking from the standpoint of gender equality, the Government has decided to formulate a guideline, which is now under consideration.

Further, in addition to publishing the bimonthly Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality News "Egalite," which introduces various measures and activities to formulate a gender-equal society, the Government has been actively engaged in publicity through newspapers, magazines, television, radio and other types of media. Since 1998 the Government has been broadly disseminating information at home and abroad on measures and policies to promote gender equality by the means of a website. The latest information and topics on this website and movements regarding the gender-equal society are provided to a wide range of citizens through e-mail.

The stereotypes of gender roles still remain deeply rooted in society and they have been a major cause of gender discrimination at home and workplace. In addition, violence from husbands or partners and sexual harassment are another matter of serious concern related to women's rights.

The Human Rights Organs of the Ministry of Justice are carrying out enlightenment activities to ensure the protection of women's rights, such as holding lectures or discussion meeting on women's rights issue, conducting information campaigns through television, radio, newspaper, magazines, etc., producing and distributing posters and leaflets, and organizing various events.

Every year during the Human Rights Week, running from 4 to 10 December, which is "Human Rights Day," the Legal Affairs Bureaus, District Legal Affairs Bureaus and Human Rights Volunteers, in collaboration with related agencies and organizations, carry out intensive information activities to promote and raise human rights consciousness among the public. Among the awareness raising activities conducted during the week, an emphasis has been placed on the campaigns under the slogan of "Raise the status of women" since 1975 in order to appeal to the public for an improvement of the status of women.

In order to gain further understanding and cooperation of the citizens for the creation of a gender-equal society, since FY2000, the Government, prefectures and government-designated cities have been jointly holding the "Gender Equality Forum" with the aim of promoting regional activities and developing an atmosphere conducive to the promotion of such activities.

By FY2001, the Government has held the "Program for Encouraging Gender Equality Declaration Cities" jointly with 45 municipalities, which encourages local authorities to announce their cities as "Gender Equality Declaration Cities" where municipalities take various measures to create a gender-equal society.

At the same time, local governments have also been implementing various publicity and enlightenment activities based on their own initiative, such as holding commissions, conferences, forums and symposiums, conducting human resource development programs and enlightenment lectures. In addition to producing homepages, publishing PR brochures, and providing TV programs, they have formulated a guideline on publicity from the standpoint of gender equality. Furthermore, in order to raise awareness of the personnel of local government, lectures and training programs focused on gender equality and women's issues have been implemented as well as lectures on gender equality and women's issues during training sessions for newly appointed personnel and managerial staff.

As described in Article 11.1.

The "Specialist Committee on Surveying Effects," under the Council for Gender Equality has been conducting studies and deliberations on various systems affecting women's choice of their lifestyle from the viewpoint of reflecting the gender equal perspective in every social system, including measures taken by the Government.