U.N. Panel Holds Meeting to Review Japan's Women Policies

New York, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)--The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women held a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday to review Japan's policies on women.

This marked the committee's first review of Japan in eight years. Following discussions at the meeting, the committee is expected to release a report with recommendations for improvement soon.

In the past three reports in 2003, 2009 and 2016, the committee recommended a revision to Article 750 of the country's Civil Code, which mandates the same surname for married couples. It said that the article often forces women to adopt their husband's surname in practice.

The issue was discussed at Thursday's meeting ahead of the Oct. 27 election of the Japanese House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, in which the proposed introduction of a selective dual surname system for married couples is a key topic.

At the meeting, Keiko Okada, head of the Cabinet Office's Gender Equality Bureau, said that Tokyo will further discuss this issue while closely monitoring public opinions, parliamentary debates and judicial decisions.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]