National Women’s Education Center of Japan

The seminar was a combination of an online orientation session and on-demand self-study prior to the visit to Japan and a face-to-face program in Japan for approximately 3 weeks. Through lectures on SGBV countermeasures and visits to relevant facilities in both government and private sectors, the participants deepened the understanding of support services based on the international standard of victim/survivor-centered approach, measures and action plans for eradicating SGBV in each country, including Japan. At the end of the program, each participant drafted an action plan on how to strengthen the measures for eradicating SGBV in their own work capacities and presented it at the final session.

Online orientation sessions were held on September 3 and 5 where each participant presented their Inception Report summarizing an overview of their organizations, respective duties, and challenges in addressing SGBV.

Through on-demand videos, participants learned how the issues of SGBV are addressed worldwide and in Japan (Videos include efforts by JICA and the Global Network of Women's Shelters (GNWS), the media cooperative Unfiltered in addressing the difficulties faced by elderly women, the GBV project implemented by JOICFP in Zambia, and the support project for young women by the non-profit organization BOND Project).

Program orientation on the first day was followed by a keynote lecture on international trends of SGBV, lectures from the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the National Police Agency (NPA), and local governments highlighted current situation and the efforts by the Japanese governments. In addition, various perspectives of SGBV issues including the outreach activities by NPOs were presented.

In the keynote lecture, Mikiko Otani, attorney lawyer and an expert member of Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) highlighted the framework of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Protocol, as well as regional treaties such as the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention). It was pointed out that there is no such regional framework in the Asia. Participants discussed what can the international community do to address the problem of SGBV that is made clear by conflicts and disasters, including the situation in Afghanistan where women's education and employment opportunities are severely restricted.

As initiatives of the Government of Japan, the Cabinet Office introduced measures to promote gender equality, the NPA introduced police initiatives to combat stalking and domestic violence to protect victims, and the MEXT explained "Life Safety Education" and "Prevention of Sexual Violence against children by Education Personnel". Some countries have legislated comprehensive law on stalking and domestic violence some have not yet addressed the issues of stalking. Measures against sexual assault against children in educational settings and in communities are a major issue across the countries. There was a lively exchange of views on the efforts of the MEXT and Board of Education.

Director of Tokyo Women's Consultation and Support Center explained the role of the Spousal Violence Counseling and Support Centers and the temporary protection of women with difficulties, including domestic violence victims.

Associate Professor Haruko Kudo of Kobe University held a workshop on "Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)," which is practiced in the field of international cooperation and assistance. The participants acknowledged the needs of ensuring the organizational management and creation of an environment based on a victim/survivor centered approach.

From Non-Profit Organization BOND Project, Jun Tachibana, the representative of the NPO and the staff talked about their activities focusing on outreach to young women who face difficulties but is not able to connect to the support from public organizations. The participants were very impressed with the resilience of the survivor and commended BOND Project’s support to empower such young women.

This year, the participants visited Hyogo Prefecture for three days.

During the visit to the Hyogo Prefectural Gender Equality Center; “EVEN”, the Director of Even explained the efforts of training and counseling services to promote gender equality. On the facility tour, the participants were highly interested in the information center, which houses books and DVDs on various fields related to gender and gender equality, such as disaster, career building, child rearing and health etc. Many participants expressed the lack of gender related information for women in their country and expressed interest to build such resource center in their countries. The Director of the Hyogo Prefectural Woman & Family Consulting Center came to EVEN to present their role and activities such as providing temporary protection and counseling support. The participants asked many questions about mental support, counseling, and support systems.

Presentation by Non-Profit Organization Regional Center for Sexual Assault and Abuse Victim Hyogo at the Hyogo Prefectural Amagasaki General Medical Center deepened participants’ understanding of the importance of providing one-stop center where support is provided by medical professionals and NPO staff who have extensive knowledge and experience in sexual violence. It contributes to reducing the burden on victims and leads to the prosecution of perpetrators. The participants were also impressed by the hospital's systematic approach to victim support.

Visit were made to Rokko Women’s House and WACCA run by Non-Profit Organization Women's and Children's Support Center, Women's Net KOBE. These places are for women, single mothers and children. Reiko Masai, president of the organization gave an inspiring presentation about medium- and long-term support focused on providing housing where women can live with peace of mind, and receive learning support as well as providing a space for single mothers raising children.

From the 3 days visit to Kobe, the participants learned a great deal from the power and efforts of people, governments, women's organizations, and others who have made a recovery and reconstruction from the great Hanshin Awaji earthquake in 1995.

Lectures and site visits were conducted to hotlines and SNS consultations, advocacy activities for supporting victims of SGBV and digital sexual exploitation.

Staffs at the General Incorporated Association, Social Inclusion Support Center (Yorisoi Hotline) explained the special characteristics of their hotline which conducts accompaniment support until the clients can manage themselves. Yorisoi Hotline provides multiple language support by many native speakers. Some participants expressed the desire to increase the number of language services in their own countries.

Kazuko Ito, an attorney at Law and Vice President of Non-Profit Organization Human Rights Now, an international human rights NGO, presented the current situation and challenges of violence in online spaces from a legal perspective. Then, Non-Profit Organization PAPS, talked about their support services for victims of digital sexual exploitation and useful websites to take down sexual images online. The participants shared the current situation that needs to be addressed in their own countries, such as child pornography through grooming and digital exploitation.

The last three days included lecture on the Perpetrator Program by Akiyoshi Saito, Deputy Director of the Nishikawaguchi Enomoto Clinic, and participants' preparation of their action plans.

Each participant presented an individual action plan for tackling SGBV issues in their country.　Action plans included such topics as strengthening functions and infrastructure of GBV one stop center, improving data management and monitoring for evidence-based policy making, as well as promoting effective awareness raising and training on GBV issues, support services and referrals and implementation of perpetrators’ rehabilitation by underlining survivor centered approach.

NWEC sincerely thanks all the individuals of the relevant ministries and agencies (the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the National Police Agency), local governments (Tokyo and Hyogo), international organizations, private-sector support groups, experts, and networks engaged in support activities, who offered a great deal of cooperation in giving lectures, opinion exchanges, and visits for carrying out this seminar.