Sexism Ahoy! Konami vs Maternity Leave

It’s nice to see that no matter how progressive the Video Game Industry gets (see: funny joke), we’re never so far along that we’re above some good old fashion sexual discrimination. A 36 year old employee of Konami, Yoko Sekiguchi, is suing the industry giant over a salary cut of about $2,080 a month and a demotion experienced after her return from maternity leave, for a none too shabby amount of $343,000. However, Sekiguchi’s case is not an isolated one. While Japan offers women 58 weeks of protected maternal leave (26 paid and 32 unpaid), there is a trend toward women not taking leave for fear of protecting their position. Says writer Tony McNicol:

Japanese women are being forced to choose between starting a family and pursuing their careers — and many plump for the latter. Although Japan has a law saying that firms are obliged to give one year of maternity leave, according to the Gender Equality Bureau, 70 percent of women are effectively forced to resign from work when they get pregnant. Barely 1 in 5 women take maternity leave, and despite being legally entitled to paternity leave, virtually no men (0.56 percent) take time off.

So at least there is some discrimination in there for the fellas as well. She later goes on to state that some women are told they may be out of a job if they take maternity leave, which further demonstrates the problems of Japanese women attempting to start a family. I really wish that I could say that in an industry rife with sexism that I am surprised by this, but this is the sort of the thing I have come to expect.

Via: Joystiq