Paper short abstract:

This presentation will answer these two questions: (1) Who experiences, what kind of harassment during job-hunting in Japan? (2) How is it dealt with? Through case studies of sexual harassment experienced by jobseekers, it will assess how such harassment hinders women's leadership in the workplace.

Paper long abstract:

In June 2019, the ILO (International Labour Organization) adopted a new Convention and Recommendation on Violence and Harassment in the Workplace. The Convention defines violence and harassment as "a range of unacceptable behaviors and practices that result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment." The Convention protects all persons working irrespective of their contractual status, thus including not only employees, but also interns, volunteers, jobseekers and freelance workers. Nations that ratify the Convention are required to prohibit violence and harassment by law and enforce employers to take measures to prevent such acts.

Japan voted to pass the Convention, however, this was only possible due to the labor representative and the government representative which holds two votes for voting in favor. The business representative abstained. Although Japan passed a law in May 2019 as a pre-step to passing the Convention by requesting companies to set up sections to deal with power harassment, it still lacks appropriate and comprehensive domestic legal measures to tackle the issue. Japan has yet to clearly spell out what constitutes harassment in the workplace or define penalties against offenders. Sexual harassment has become to be conceptualized as a form of gender-based violence, but Japan is slow in giving a precise definition and taking firm actions. Ambiguity also remains in the definition of "workplace" and "worker".

Those most vulnerable to such harassment are jobseekers, especially students seeking for their first job upon graduation. They often fall in the gray areas of harassment protection because they are not technically "workers" working in a "workplace" in the Japanese context. This presentation will aim to answer the following questions. In what ways do such harassment act as barriers and hurdles for newly graduates? How is gender-based harassment defined and dealt with for job-hunting students in Japan? By exploring recent ad hoc policy measures and counter-movements, this presentation will assess how such harassment act as gender-based barriers towards job-hunting students, impede a gender-equal workplace, and hinder women's leadership in the workplace.