Asian women express dismay over US presidential campaign
TOKYO/TAIPEI — Women in the Asia-Pacific region expressed dismay on Thursday about the US presidential campaign’s focus on the emotional topic of sexual harassment, saying it shows both democracy and the rights of women in America have some way to go.
In a fiery final debate on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Republican nominee Donald Trump accused Democrat rival Hillary Clinton’s campaign of orchestrating a series of accusations by women who said the businessman had made unwanted sexual advances.
Ms. Clinton, who would be America’s first female president, said the women came forward after Mr. Trump said he had never made unwanted advances on women. His denial came after a 2005 video surfaced earlier this month in which he was recorded bragging about groping women against their will.
Hsiao Bi-khim, a lawmaker from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said she found it “rather incredible” Mr. Trump had survived politically in the face of the allegations.
If a candidate in Taiwan was caught on tape making similar remarks, “I don’t think such a person would survive a presidential campaign,” she said.
Taiwan in January elected its first woman president, Tsai Ing-wen, and on gender equality at least, appears more advanced politically than the United States, she said.
“Not only have we elected a woman president, but we have a higher percentage of women who are independently involved in politics and in leadership positions,” Ms. Hsiao said.
BREAKING GLASS CEILING
Japan’s former minister for gender equality, Kuniko Inoguchi, said the rest of the world has been dismayed to see the US campaign devolve into “a downgraded debate on women’s issues” and it wouldn’t be happening if Ms. Clinton were a man running for President.
“So when the glass ceiling breaks, there are a lot of injuries that a woman must bear,” Ms. Inoguchi said.
Mari Miura, a Sophia University political science professor specializing in women’s issues, said Japanese politicians have also sparked outrage for comments demeaning women in the past.
“We hear such comments constantly from Japanese conservative men,” she said. “There are so many incidents that people get used to it and it’s easier to let it go.”
A study commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, published in March, found 28.7% of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment, and 40% of those said they had experienced unwanted touching.
South Korea, which in 2012 elected its first woman president, Park Geun-hye, has slowly become more accepting of women politicians, said Park Young-sun, a female senior member of the Democratic Party of Korea, which has a majority in parliament.
Park Young-sun said that when she first entered parliament, in 2004, female lawmakers were considered “decorative items on display.”
“They were given positions within the parties like flowers being placed decoratively here and there. Now it’s better.”
Nurul Izzah, a Malaysian member of parliament and daughter of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, said the US campaign debate was “a tragedy for women everywhere”.
Ms. Nurul said “there is a lot of condescension, prejudice” in Malaysian politics, but “political attacks are not really focused on genderspecific issues.”