22 Feb 2011 - A group of Japanese women filed a challenge in court last week to a 19th century law that compels almost all Japanese females to drop their maiden names and assume their husbands' surnames when they marry. The landmark case is eeen as a test case for the rights of women in Japan, who continue to fight against gender inequality, stereotypes and remain under-represented in corporate boardrooms. The Civil Code stipulates that married couples must share one surname, in practice almost always that of the husband. The plaintiffs, four women and the husband of one of them, argue that the Civil Code clause breaches the constitutional guarantee of equal rights for both spouses. We had a similar case in Holland some years ago, and it was decided that spouses could opt to live under their own name, or choose any of the two surnames for both of them and their children.
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