2024 POLLS: Female Candidates Continue to Face Sexual Harassment

Tokyo, Oct. 24 (Jiji Press)--Sexual harassment by voters against female candidates is a persistent issue in Japanese elections and is believed to be one of the factors preventing female advancement in the political sphere even as a record 314 women run in Sunday's general election.

A survey conducted by the Cabinet Office in fiscal 2021 found that 24.9 pct of female candidates have experienced sexual harassment during election campaigns.

"I was hugged and had my bottom touched by various men almost every day," Tomomi Higashi, a member of the Machida city assembly in Tokyo, said of her election campaign six years ago when she won a seat for the first time.

Higashi said she was touched while she sought to shake hands with people, as she thought that shaking hands with as many people as possible would lead to more votes.

"Even if I complained to people around me, (the touching) occurred repeatedly as they were brief incidents and could not be prevented, so it was tough," she said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]