Labor minister refuses to back the ban on dress codes in japan that force women to wear high heels.

source: AP

In response to the #KuToo petition that calls for an end to women’s having to wear heels at work last Tuesday, Japan’s health and labour minister defended of the gendered footwear practice, claiming that it’s “necessary and appropriate”.





"It's generally accepted by society that (wearing high heels) is necessary and reasonable in workplaces," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takumi Nemoto said Wednesday during a Diet committee session.





“A dress code applied only to women amounts to harassment, Nemoto said it’s only “abuse of power if a worker with a hurt foot is forced (to wear high heels),” he adds.

Takumi Nemoto, Japan’s health, labour and welfare minister, Takumi Nemoto. Source: Issei Kato/Reuters

Another lawmaker, Kanako Otsuji, called the rules “outdated” during the same meeting, according to the BBC.





Nemoto’s comments came after a group that works against gender-based workplace discrimination submitted a petition with over 23,000 signatures by Wednesday, demanding to put an end to the dress codes that make heels an obligation for women at work.





The group, led by actress and writer Yumi Ishikawa, is part of the #KuToo movement — an amalgamation of #MeToo and the Japanese words for shoes, kutsu, and pain, kutsū.



