Over 8,000 death threat emails sent to politician who called for sanitary pads in restrooms

A female Japanese politician received thousands of death threat emails for requesting menstrual pads be made available in public restrooms. Ayaka Yoshida has filed a police complaint after 8,000 emails were sent from one email address, threatening to kill her for demanding napkins.

The 27-year-old is a local assembly member in central Mie prefecture. Recently, she took to social media to tell people about the lack of menstrual products in the restroom of a city hall. “I was caught off guard by my period and was in trouble as there were no sanitary napkins in the restroom at Tsu City Hall. I hope menstrual pads can be provided like toilet paper,” Yoshida posted on X.

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Her post ticked off someone who sent her nearly 8,000 emails over the weekend, between 8 pm local time on Friday and 3.50 pm on Monday, according to the report.

The emails were sexist and ageist

The subject of one of the emails read, "I will kill assembly member Ayaka Yoshida who doesn't bring emergency napkins with her while being old enough to know better!" according to Japanese daily The Mainichi.

The contents of the email also talked about the person wanting to kill Yoshida for not bringing her own napkins.

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Another email also carried sexist language, stating, “At her age, she should know how to carry emergency sanitary napkins.”

Yoshida admitted she was scared

Yoshida held a press conference and detailed her ordeal. She stated that the emails tried to intimidate her and suppress her from performing her activities as a prefectural assembly member. “I'm very scared... I hope the police will conduct a thorough investigation,” she said.

Female workers in Japan are allowed to take menstrual leave under the Labor Standards Law of 1947. However, it doesn't clarify whether they are paid or unpaid leaves. There is also no mention of the number of days a woman can take such leave. Further, despite it being a part of the law, companies are not mandated to offer paid time off during menstruation.

According to an international survey conducted in 2023, 44 per cent of women in Japan do not take any time off work during their periods, even if they are in serious pain. Moreover, 35 per cent of women experiencing problems due to menopause continue to work irrespective of their pain or symptoms.