女の本屋 > Book (B-WAN) > The Sacrifice of Backlash --- Dismissal of Head of Gender Equality Center edited by Mariko Mitsui and Mutsuko Asakura

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The Sacrifice of Backlash --- Dismissal of Head of Gender Equality Center edited by Mariko Mitsui and Mutsuko Asakura

2012.05.30 Wed

“Backlash” refers to right-wing movements which detest gender equality. “The head of a gender equality center” refers to myself. I was the head of STEP, a gender equality center in Toyonaka, Osaka. Backlash movements are prevailing all over Japan, spreading false rumors and threatening people. They exclude books and teachers that oppose their ideology from the society and water down the gender equality policies. This prevents the government from implementing the policies, withering them rapidly. The same can be said about Toyonaka. The local government gave in and dismissed me from the head of the center. The government sacrificed me to the backlash movement.

I filed a lawsuit against the decision and the case lasted for 7 years, ending up in the Supreme Court. And finally last year, the Supreme Court judged that the dismissal was unfair and underhand, and it invaded my personal right. This became final and binding, bringing a historical victory to supporters of gender equality. We successfully counterattacked the backlash movement in Japan for the first time in the solidarity with the defense lawyers, scholars and supporters.

This book, The Sacrifice of Backlash, comprises my essay based on the massive statements submitted to the Osaka District Court, “The Theory of Personal Right Invasion” by Professor Mutsuko Asakura, memoirs on the trial by Katsuko Terasawa and Mitsuko Miyaji, the attorneys who supervised the lawsuit, and a timeline of the trial. The book also includes the flyers, conversations, newspaper articles and photographs of the trial.

Nothing would make me happier, if our readers would realize “the terror of Fascism” from the viewpoint of gender equality.

Original article written by Mariko Mitsui, the editor (http://wan.or.jp/book/?p=4013)

Translated by N. Tajima

カテゴリー：Book (B-WAN)