Recently formed industry group Women in Media Network Japan sent out a number of official requests on Tuesday to the Abe Cabinet, in a bid to encourage the government to properly address what the organization feels are inadequate protections for media workers subjected to sexual harassment.

Formed in the aftermath of sexual harassment accusations against Junichi Fukuda, the former top bureaucrat at the Finance Ministry, the group also took the government to task for what it called a glacial response to the scandal and a string of official comments widely viewed as being insensitive to victims.

"The Finance Minister's comments and lack of action are not just problematic for women journalists but also for women in society as a whole," said Yoshiko Hayashi, a representative of the new organization, at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.