More than 60 percent of women in Japan have experienced the enforcement of rules requiring them to wear heels in the workplace or while job-hunting, or have witnessed others being forced to wear them, according to a survey conducted by a Japanese business website that reported the findings to a Diet discussion on Tuesday.
The survey was conducted by Business Insider Japan, which questioned 207 individuals about workplace dress codes, including 184 women. More than 80 percent of the female respondents said they had suffered health problems as a result of wearing heels, while a quarter were informed during seminars on workplace behavior that wearing them was considered basic etiquette.
Discussions were held Tuesday between a group fighting the enforcement of rules on wearing heels in the workplace, members of the labor ministry and other organizations as well as lawmakers. They exchanged viewpoints on confronting and eliminating gender-based workplace discrimination.