Japanese politician gets 8,000 death threats over call for sanitary pads in public toilets
Source: South Morning China Post
A female Japanese politician has received about 8,000 emails containing death threats after proposing free sanitary pads in public toilets – a wave of online abuse that experts say reflects a deeper pattern of gender-based harassment aiming to silence outspoken women.
Ayaka Yoshida, a 27-year-old member of the Mie prefectural assembly and the Japanese Communist Party, sparked the backlash after posting on social media on March 25: “Like toilet paper, I want sanitary pads to be provided everywhere.”
The message quickly provoked angry responses, with one message sent to the secretariat of the Mie assembly stating, “At her age, she should know to carry emergency sanitary napkins.”
The responses soon became more threatening, however, with the assembly receiving nearly 8,000 emails – about one a minute for nearly four days from 8pm on March 28.
Read here the full article published by the South Morning China Post on 3 April 2025.
Image by South China Morning Post
A female Japanese politician has received about 8,000 emails containing death threats after proposing free sanitary pads in public toilets – a wave of online abuse that experts say reflects a deeper pattern of gender-based harassment aiming to silence outspoken women.
Ayaka Yoshida, a 27-year-old member of the Mie prefectural assembly and the Japanese Communist Party, sparked the backlash after posting on social media on March 25: “Like toilet paper, I want sanitary pads to be provided everywhere.”
The message quickly provoked angry responses, with one message sent to the secretariat of the Mie assembly stating, “At her age, she should know to carry emergency sanitary napkins.”
The responses soon became more threatening, however, with the assembly receiving nearly 8,000 emails – about one a minute for nearly four days from 8pm on March 28.
Read here the full article published by the South Morning China Post on 3 April 2025.
Image by South China Morning Post