Women Sailors - by Raveen

Women Sailors

The article talks about Japan’s biggest warship, the Kaga, which has a tight knit group of women sailors that are combating age-old social norms that still prevail in the field where men outnumber women 10 to 1.

The Maritime Self Defense force needs more women to crew warships in order to combat China’s growing regional influence and the falling birth rate is increasing the demand for women sailors.

Currently Japan is aiming to increase the enrollment of women in the military from 6% to 9% by 2030, however this is still significantly lower than the US 15% and the British 10%. Discrimination is reportedly low in the Japanese navy however they have been several reports of sexual harassment. The MSDF is also considering removing an end to the women ban on submarine duty which would be a major victory for gender equality in the military.

The MSDF is trying to increase privacy for women on the vessels and to provide them with generally better facilities. However the lack of access to internet and SNS has made this job less attractive to young recruits.