An advisory panel to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori submitted a report Monday recommending broad measures to promote gender equality in Japan.
The recommendations include new legislation to combat domestic violence against women, the disclosure of the names of companies that refuse to stop discriminating against female employees and allowing married couples to use separate surnames.
The Council for Gender Equality, which had been tasked with providing ideas by year's end on a basic plan for promoting gender equality, urged the state to decide on what measures it will take by fiscal 2005.
The report backs changing the current system in order to allow married couples to use separate surnames.
It also recommends establishment of a new law to provide security for women who suffer assaults by their husbands and partners, saying current legislation falls short in this regard.
The report has 11 main recommendations. These include amplifying women's participation in policymaking procedures, reviewing discriminatory social systems and customs -- such as the surname issue -- and the elimination of violence against women in any form.
The issue of violence against women is given special emphasis and is described as "a structural problem deeply rooted in our society, which fixes separate roles for men and women." According to a 1999 government survey, one in every 20 married Japanese women has suffered life-threatening violence from her spouse.
The report urges the government to further research violence against women in preparation for the establishment of a consultative body. It also calls for an increase in battered women's shelters and strengthened cooperation between the government and private sector to prevent such violence.
To promote gender equality at work, the government should publicize the names of firms that refuse to abide by recommendations.