A female Japanese politician who took her baby into a local assembly meeting to highlight the issues women face in the workplace has sparked debate after being ejected from the chamber.
Yuka Ogata on Wednesday took her seven-month-old son to join a municipal assembly session of the southern city of Kumamoto, but other lawmakers asked her to leave, local media reported.
“Under the rules, only politicians, staff members and city officials can go on to the assembly floor,” a Kumamoto City Assembly official told reporters yesterday.
The assembly was delayed for 40 minutes. Ogata rejoined after leaving her child with a friend, public broadcaster Japan Broadcasting Corp reported.
“Apparently she told the chairman that she wanted to create a woman-friendly work environment,” the official said.
Her move has sparked debate online, with supporters saying that she was brave and opponents questioning if it was a good idea to bring a baby to a workplace.
“I think her act was wonderful. People wouldn’t take problems seriously” if she had not shown up with her child, one person said on Twitter.
“Balancing work and child rearing isn’t about being with a child all the time at a workplace,” said another user, who identified herself as a fellow working mother. “I really cannot understand her action.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made increasing female participation in the workforce a key plank of his “Abenomics” strategy to reboot Japan’s once-mighty economy.
However, women are still underrepresented in politics, with only 47 of 465 members of the Japanese House of Representatives.
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