Japanese Women Start #KuToo Campaign to Fight High Heels at the Workplace

A group of women in Japan recently submitted a petition to the government to register their protest to what according to them is a de-facto requirement for female workers to wear high heels at their respective workplace.

The #KuToo campaign comes from the Japanese word “kutsu”, which means “shoes” and “kutsuu” which means, “Pain”. Actress and writer Yumi Ishikawa launched the campaign and quickly the campaign is gaining strength as it has won support from more than 19,000 people online and is growing.

According to the campaigning girls, wearing high heels is seen as a compulsory requirement while job hunting or working at many Japanese companies.

Ishikawa met government officials and submitted the petition, she later said, “Today we submitted a petition calling for the introduction of laws banning employers from forcing women to wear heels as sexual discrimination or harassment”. Ishikawa also added, “It’s the first step forward” towards achieving their goals.

Though the labour ministry officials were not immediately available for comment on the petition.

Earlier this year, Ishikawa through a tweet complained about the requirement to wear heels for a hotel job, the tweet went viral, which later prompted her to launch the #KuToo campaign.

Ishikawa said, as I realised that so many girls everyday face the same problem, I decided to launch the campaign. The campaign is now gaining popularity and is now compared to the global anti-sexual harassment #MeToo campaign.

Other campaigners also raised the issue online saying high heels are like the modern foot binding, some also raised the issue of the dress codes, in the work culture and business that is controlled by men, and thus it is the high time to raise voice against such issues to make the Japanese workplace comfortable for all.

In the year 2015, The organizers of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival apologized after a controversy come up after women being denied access to the red carpet reception for not wearing high heels. But strangely in the later years, Cannes continued with the dress code, despite a protest lodged by Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts, who went barefoot on the red carpet next year.

In the year 2017, Canada also banned companies in British Columbia for forcing female employees to wear high heels, calling the practice both dangerous and discriminatory.