Recommended Citation
Jennifer S. Fan, From Office Ladies to Women Warriors?: The Effect of the EEOL on Japanese Women, 10 UCLA WOMEN’S L.J. 103 (1999), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/600
Keywords
Article 3, Article 4, Article 14, Equal Employment Opportunity Law, EEOL, office ladies, OLs, sex discrimination, sexual harassment, Japanese Constitution, Japanese Civil Code, Article 1, Article 90, Article 709, Article 715, U.N. Convention Concerning the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Labor Standards Act, LSA, U.N. Convention Concerning the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, doryoku, kinshi, Fukuoka case, Shizuoka, Osaka case, management track
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this Article, Jennifer Fan argues that existing laws in Japan do not adequately protect working women from sex discrimination. Specifically, Fan examines the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL), a law designed to prevent discrimination against women in the workplace, and concludes that the EEOL is little more than a paper tiger that preserves the status quo. After briefly discussing the legal sources of protection for working women in Japan before the passage of the EEOL, Fan examines the creation of the EEOL, its substantive provisions, and its legal impact. Through her analysis of recent sexual harassment cases in light of the EEOL and recent 1999 amendments to the EEOL, Fan illustrates that the EEOL does little to improve the working environment for women. Fan concludes that additional revisions to the EEOL are needed to ensure the effectiveness of the EEOL and to bolster women's rights in the workplace.