The fact that so many of the politicians and bureaucrats who pushed for better laws and the criminalization of DV were women speaks to how important it is for equal representation in the government. If it weren’t for women in leadership roles, nobody influential would have supported the Coalition. That support from politicians was necessary in order for civil society to go as far as it did and pressure the government into acting. Having representation in the government is crucial in order for society to be heard and have an influential voice. Without representation, I don’t think civil lawmaking would be a very effective model of change. Furthermore, if Japan had had better representation of women in the government in the first place, I don’t think change would have taken so long to occur.
Another thing the reading and Kamata’s lecture made me note was how difficult it is to create laws and policies that are actually effective in implementation. When the first steps towards change were taken in 2001, there was a massive disconnect between the new laws and any actual benefits. While theoretically the laws could help someone in terms of legality, they were not made in a way that enabled victims to reap the benefits. For instance, Kamata explained how although the new laws criminalized sexual violence, they did nothing to help victims access resources that would get them out of their situation, despite some of those resources already being in place in the shelters. Its’ important to note regarding any social movement that the construction of laws that define issues is not the end of the issues themselves.
The first thing I would like to ask Kamata about is the role of men in this movement. The importance of women and female politicians was clearly outline in the article, but I felt that there was less said about men; mentions of men in the article were mostly limited to the ways that men hindered the process or presented an obstacle. I’m curious, though, how many male politicians supported the Coalition and how important their support was in the creation of the new laws. If there were many men supporting the movement, was their support treated with more importance than the women’s? Were male politicians more likely to listen to other male politicians about the issues outlined? I’m interested in such things.
My second question has to do with the future. Where does she see the DV social movement going in the future? She noted that far more cases of DV were called out in 2017 than in the early 2000’s, but has that number continued increasing? What are the gaps and inefficiencies of the current system, and does she think civil lawmaking will continue to play an important part in further efforts of this movement?
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