Maternity harassment a serious problem for Japan's working women
Abe wants females to help boost the economy, but many are pressured into staying at home
When Sayaka Osakabe returned to work after a second miscarriage, one of the first questions her boss asked was whether she was having sex again.
Despite laws guaranteeing equal opportunity and a near parity of sexes attending university, Japanese women have yet to gain an equal footing in employment.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked up the role of women in his push to revive a weak economy, pledging they would occupy 30 per cent of all leadership positions by 2020, but Osakabe and others say the reality for most female workers is bleak.
"Rather than focusing on a small portion of elite women who are top managers, I'd like them to start by dealing with problems affecting women like us at the bottom," Osakabe, 37, said.
With an ageing population and low birth rate, legislators and economists say Japan must encourage more women to both work and have children.
After winning a settlement through a labour tribunal in June, Osakabe has been speaking on behalf of pregnant women and young mothers who are harassed at work. Their plight has spawned a new term: "matahara" which is a shortened form of "maternity harassment".
Osakabe's case has pushed bullying over pregnancy at work into the media spotlight, and coincides with the first hearing on maternity harassment in the country's Supreme Court.