Tag - rights

 
 

RIGHTS

Xuan, a Vietnamese migrant, speaks during an interview in London.
WORLD
Feb 13, 2025
'Trapped': Vietnamese slavery victim's ordeal on U.K. dope farm
Vietnamese migrants are among the most exposed to modern slavery, with more than 1,000 presumed victims reported to British authorities in 2023.
Visitors look at information promoting Saudi Arabia's Neom megaproject at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22.
WORLD
Feb 13, 2025
Why are TikTok mumfluencers lauding Saudi's Neom desert megacity?
One Thai mumfluencer shared a video of her "typical afternoon in Neom". The video has been viewed around 800,000 times. The city it shows is almost deserted.
Ethnic Uyghurs protest near the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul in 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 13, 2025
China repressing Tibetans and Uyghurs in Switzerland, government report says
Members of the two Chinese minority groups are subject to "transnational repression," the report said.
The entrance to Walt Disney studios in Burbank, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025
Disney softens diversity criteria used to determine manager pay
Disney is the latest company to soften its focus on diversity, equity and inclusion amid a growing backlash against such policies by mostly conservative groups.
A suspected victim of modern slavery who was initially denied state support after Britain introduced a tougher immigration policy, in London on Sept. 19
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2025
U.K.'s tougher immigration policy risks trapping victims in modern slavery
The protections created under Britain's Modern Slavery Act have been eroded by rules introduced in 2023 to curb illegal migration.
People walk past a banner that reads "no to divorce" outside the Quiapo Church in Manila. The Philippines is one of just two countries — along with Vatican City — where divorce is illegal, and the Catholic Church retains a powerful grip on society and outsize influence on politics.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 11, 2025
Philippine divorce activists vow to fight on
The Philippines is one of just two countries — along with Vatican City — where divorce remains illegal.
Drug rehab patients walk in formation to have lunch at the Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, north of Manila, in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2025
Abuse and coercion rife in Philippines drugs rehab, rights groups say
Rights groups say some facilities fail standards and have called for more health and social support.
Saburo Kita (a pseudonym, left) submits a claim for forced sterilization compensation on Jan. 17 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2025
Japan enforces compensation law for forced sterilization victims
Under the new law, victims of forced sterilization will receive ¥15 million in compensation, while their spouses will be entitled to ¥5 million.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom talks to U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 24 upon his arrival to tour areas impacted or destroyed by the southern California wildfires.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2025
California governor Newsom allocates $50 million to help immigrants
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a pair of bills allocating $50 million to fight the Trump administration in court and provide legal aid for immigrants, escalating the state’s efforts to push back against the president’s policies.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Trump has frozen U.S. aid to South Africa, citing a law in the country that he alleges allows land to be seized from white farmers, despite Johannesburg's denials.
WORLD
Feb 9, 2025
Trump freezes all South African assistance as standoff escalates
South Africa’s Foreign Ministry expressed "great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy,” in a statement Saturday.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks during a news conference at the Justice Ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025
Japan's retrial system to be reviewed after landmark acquittal
The system — so time-consuming that campaigners call it the "door that never opens" — has not been changed since 1949.
Only couples experiencing infertility would be eligible to access assisted reproductive technology, while those in de facto marriages and same-sex couples will be excluded.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 6, 2025
Assisted reproductive tech bill submitted to Upper House
The proposed legislation is aimed at guaranteeing the right of people born through the use of such technology to know their origins.
A video clip shows former lawyer Yamato Eguchi remaining silent during an interrogation by prosecutors.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 6, 2025
Tokyo High Court upholds compensation order over interrogation abuse
The Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court's ruling that the state must pay compensation to a former lawyer over the verbal abuse he suffered while he was interrogated.
The proportion of respondents who said that the surname debate was something they felt they had a personal stake in increased by 2.7 percentage points from the previous survey by the Cabinet Office in 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2025
44% in Japan feel they might be affected by dual-surname debate
The possible introduction of a selective dual-surname system was one of the key issues in last year's election for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Demonstrators take part in a protest against China to support the ethnic Uyghur community, in Istanbul in December 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 4, 2025
China eases travel curbs on Uyghurs but maintains 'severe' controls
Human Rights Watch says Uyghurs are rarely permitted to travel overseas with family members and often face interrogation on returning to China.
The International Criminal Court is pursuing arrest warrants for Taliban leaders accused of human rights abuses against Afghan women and girls, but legal and political obstacles complicate the process.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025
The long road to justice for Afghan women
Afghan women and girls need every bit of global support they can get to push back against the Taliban’s unhinged misogyny.
The front page of The Japan Times on Feb. 21, 1925, carried news of clashes in the streets over the debate of extending voting rights to Japanese males over the age of 25.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Feb 1, 2025
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo factions ready to fight over manhood suffrage bill in Diet
Objections from the country's 1% came as Japan debated extending voting rights to all men over the age of 25.
Jumpei Yasuda in November 2018
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 31, 2025
Tokyo high court rules denying a passport to journalist is illegal
The journalist had applied for a passport in 2019, but the Foreign Ministry refused to issue one to him because Turkey had banned his entry.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura said measures against U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women "will show the government's position more clearly," in relation to the Imperial House Law.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2025
Japan hits back at U.N. panel over imperial law review recommendation
The law allows only male descendants from the paternal line of the imperial family to become emperor.
Defending the rights of transgender and nonbinary people isn’t only about waging legal battles. It’s about more persuasive arguments.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2025
Trump can’t erase trans people with the stroke of his marker
There hasn’t been as much outrage as I had anticipated, but it makes sense. Most Americans, polls show, don’t personally know anyone who identifies as transgender.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?