「国際女性の日」に寄せて

女性活躍担当大臣・
内閣府特命担当大臣（男女共同参画）

片山　さつき

3月8日は、「国際女性の日」です。平和と安全、開発における役割の拡大、組織やコミュニティーにおける地位向上などによって、どこまで女性がその可能性を広げてきたかを確認し、今後の更なる前進に向けて話し合う機会として設けた記念日であり、また、今後の更なる前進に向け、決意を新たにする日でもあります。

「国際女性の日」には、国連を始め世界各国においてこの日を祝う行事が行われています。日本においても、株式市場でESG（注）投資・女性活躍への機運が高まりつつあることを踏まえ、東京証券取引所において「女性活躍のための打鐘セレモニー～Ring the Bell for Gender Equality～」イベントが開催されます。女性がその能力を最大限発揮し、日本だけでなく世界全体の経済成長につながることを祈っています。
（注）環境（Environment）、社会（Social）、ガバナンス（Governance）

全ての女性が、自らの希望に応じ個性と能力を十分に発揮できる社会を実現することは、我が国の最重要課題の一つです。あらゆる分野における女性活躍の実現のため、「女性活躍推進法」の制定、働き方改革、保育所整備の拡大などの取組を進めてきました。

その結果、女性の就業者数はこの６年間で288万人増加し、子育て期の女性の就業率も67.7％から76.5%に上昇するとともに、上場企業の女性役員数が2.7倍になるなど、大きな成果を上げています。

こうした流れをさらに力強いものとするため、今国会で女性活躍推進法の改正を目指しております。この法改正で、一般事業主行動計画の策定義務の対象を、常時雇用者301人以上の事業主から101人以上の事業主に拡大させること等によって、女性活躍の取組の裾野を広げていきたいと考えています。また、昨年5月には、「政治分野における男女共同参画の推進に関する法律」が制定・施行されたところであり、様々な分野で働く女性や女性経営者の声も直接伺いながら、経済や政治など、あらゆる分野における女性の活躍が進むよう、取り組んでいきます。

また、女性の活躍を推進するための大前提として、女性が安全に、安心して暮らせる環境を整備することが必要不可欠です。そのためにも、配偶者からの暴力や性犯罪・性暴力など、女性に対するあらゆる暴力の根絶に向けた取組について、新たに立ち上げた「DV等の被害者のための民間シェルター等に対する支援の在り方に関する検討会」も通じて、立場の弱い被害者の目線に立って、より一層強力に進めてまいります。

また、国連の「女子差別撤廃条約」の採択から40年、日本の「男女共同参画社会基本法」の公布から20年を迎える節目の年である本年、日本はG20の議長国であり、3月23日・24日には、東京で、国際女性会議「WAW！」（World Assembly for Women）と女性の経済的活躍を目的としてG20に提言を行う民間主導のグループ「W20（Women 20）」の会合が世界で初めて同時開催されます。

また、本年は、フランスで開催されるG7、チリで開催されるAPECにおいても、女性の活躍や男女平等が重要テーマとして取り上げられます。こうした国際会議などの機会を積極的に活用し、我が国の取組を効果的に発信するとともに、国際的な議論や諸外国との会談などの成果を取り込んでいきます。

国際女性の日に当たり、全ての女性も男性も、働きやすく、安心して暮らせる、持続可能な社会を実現するべく、全力で取り組んでいくことを改めてお誓いします。

平成31年3月8日

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Message for International Women’s Day 2019

Satsuki Katayama

Minister in charge of Women’s Empowerment
Minister of State for Gender Equality

TThe 8th of March is International Women’s Day. This celebration was established as an opportunity to reaffirm the extent to which women have broadened their potential by playing larger roles in peace, security and development and by enhancing their standing in organizations and communities. The day is also intended to be an occasion for us to talk to each other and renew our determination to achieve further progress for the future of women.

The United Nations and countries around the world hold various events on International Women’s Day to celebrate it. In Japan, against a backdrop of the current growing trends for ESG investing and women’s empowerment in the stock market, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will also hold the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event. I wish the bell rings with the hope that women will demonstrate their capabilities to the full and eventually contribute to the economic growth of Japan and the entire world.

As one of its most important issues, Japan gives priority to creating a society in which all women can fully demonstrate their individuality and ability as they see fit. For the empowerment of women in all fields, we have been implementing a range of initiatives, including the establishment of the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace, work style reforms, and the expansion of childcare facilities.

Through these efforts, Japan has made great achievements. For example, the number of women in the workforce increased by 2.88 million over the last six years and the workforce participation rate of women raising children has risen from 67.7% to 76.5%, with the number of female directors in listed companies also being boosted by a factor of 2.7.

In order to give stronger momentum to these trends, we aim to revise the Act during the current session of the Diet. The revision will increase the number of companies that are mandated to formulate action plans to help employees make their work and childrearing compatible, and we aim to broaden the scope of measures taken for women’s empowerment. Specifically, the revised law will mandate companies with 101 or more regular employees to formulate action plans, while presently only companies with 301 or more regular employees are required to do so. Also, in last May, the Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field was enforced in Japan. Encouraged by this, we will further foster the empowerment of women in economic, political and all other fields by directly listening to the opinions of female entrepreneurs and women working in a range of areas.

As a precondition to foster the empowerment of women, it is essential to provide women with an environment where they can lead their life safely and with peace of mind. To this end, we will work to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including spousal violence as well as sexual crimes and violence through various initiatives, including the activities of the study group on the support to be given to private shelters for the victims of domestic violence. We will foster this from the viewpoint of the victims of such violence, who are in vulnerable positions.

This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women by the United Nations and the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Act for Gender Equal Society in Japan. In this milestone year, Japan will also host the G20 summit, and on March 23 and 24 the meetings of the World Assembly for Women (WAW!) and of Women 20 (W20) will be held concurrently in Tokyo for the first time. W20 is a group that makes recommendations to G20 on the empowerment of women in the economic field.

Moreover, this year, women’s empowerment and gender equality will be discussed as important themes at the G7 Summit to be held in France as well as at the APEC meetings to be hosted by Chile. Through these international conferences and other opportunities, we will introduce Japan’s measures in an effective manner, while also making use of the results of international discussions and meetings held between Japan and various other countries.

On International Women’s Day, we will commit ourselves again to doing our best to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society where both men and women can work with comfort and lead their lives with peace of mind.

March 8, 2019