Japanese prof: Women in politics is global issue

YOUNGSTOWN

Japanese professor and former politician Mieko Nakabayashi said women’s issues are not separate from men’s lives.

Nakabayashi spoke about women in politics in the DeBartolo Stadium Club at Youngstown State University on Thursday as part of YSU’s Women’s History Month programming. She presented data on the number of women represented in politics, work and education – both in the U.S. and Japan, and around the world.

Showing a chart documenting the percentage of women serving in national legislative bodies worldwide, Nakabayashi said less than 25 percent of politicians around the world are women.

“Women in politics is not a domestic issue,” she said. “It’s a global issue.”

The U.S. and Japan lag behind other developed countries on the issue. Countries including Norway, Sweden, Spain and Rwanda have a much greater share of women among their political representatives. These countries also employ quotas that dictate a certain level of female representation in their legislative bodies.

Read more about the issue in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.