33% job seekers in Japan suffer from gender discrimination: Survey

Tokyo, June 22 (IANS) A recent survey revealed that nearly 33 per cent of job seekers in Japan suffer from gender discrimination.

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, conducted the online survey that covered 1,000 males and females aged between 15 and 29 who took employment exams within the past three years, Xinhua news agency quoted local newspaper Asahi Shimbun as saying.

The nationwide survey showed that some 32.8 per cent of respondents, 30.1 per cent of males and 35.7 per cent of females, were troubled by sexism.

When asked about instances of gender discrimination, with multiple answers allowed, 39.6 per cent of the survey respondents said the work positions were prepared for either men or women, while 36.9 per cent cited differing gender employment quotas.

In addition, 19.5 per cent of job seekers said they heard inappropriate remarks during their interviews.

A 25-year-old woman quoted a company representative as saying, "you will quit quickly because you are a woman".

According to the World Economic Forum, Japan currently sits in 120th place out of 153 countries with a gender equality gap of 34.4 per cent.

In a report in March, the World Bank said Japan ranked 104th overall of the 190 economies listed.

Of 34 high-income countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Japan is the only one that has no legislation on sexual harassment in the workplace.