Society

Finance Ministry takes steps to stop sexual harassment

May 10 (NHK) - Japan's Finance Ministry has held an in-house seminar on ways to prevent sexual harassment, following the recent resignation of the ministry's top bureaucrat.

About 80 key ministry officials attended the seminar on Wednesday, which is the first of its kind on such a scale in the ministry.

It included a lecture by a female lawyer who is an expert on sexual harassment.

Former administrative vice finance minister Junichi Fukuda resigned last month following allegations that he had sexually harassed female reporters.

The lawyer pointed out that the incident revealed a wide gap between common perceptions regarding sexual harassment and what some ministry officials believed. She called on the officials to change their mindset.

The participants were told about what is considered sexual harassment and how to respond.

The ministry plans similar seminars in the future. It also plans to interview female officials on ways to prevent any further incidents.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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