TOKYO (Kyodo) -- For foreign women who moved to Japan to work as technical intern trainees, taking maternity leave has rarely been a realistic option as pregnancy often means termination of an employment contract or even forced repatriation.

Jiho Yoshimizu, the representative director of a friendship association that supports Vietnamese residents of Japan, recently published her first book titled "If You Get Pregnant, Sayonara," detailing the stark reality of "maternity harassment" in which technical interns are forced out of their jobs.

Yoshimizu argues the priorities of companies that employ such individuals have been given precedence for too long, even in the face of acute labor shortages in Japan which make workers valuable assets. "People need to change their mindset," she writes in her book.

Some technical interns complain of companies refusing to hire them because they are pregnant. In one extreme case, a woman said her employer equated her pregnancy to an "illness," despite sickness not being grounds for dismissal.

Such workers hold residency qualifications such as technical training and specified skilled visas. While they prop up Japan's agricultural and manufacturing industries, which are among the worst impacted by the labor shortage, their testimonies show how easily they can be thrown on the scrap heap.

Maternity harassment, the unfair treatment of a woman by an employer because they are pregnant or a parent, is prohibited by Japan's Equal Employment Opportunity Law, and foreign residents are entitled to lump-sum maternity and childcare benefits and leave before and after childbirth, like any Japanese woman.

In reality, however, many employers are unwilling to fill temporary vacancies created when a woman goes on maternity leave and instead often force foreign nationals to resign from their jobs so they can be replaced permanently.

To make matters worse, many foreign women are unaware of their legal rights and have difficulty accessing government support services due to the language barrier. Looking for a solution, Yoshimizu's group established a joint labor union under the Tokyo chapter of Rengo, the national labor organization, in 2022.

With the union's help, 153 expectant women and mothers of young children were supported between fiscal 2020 and 2023. Most took maternity or childcare leave and then subsequently were able to continue working in Japan.

The union acts as a safeguard specifically for Vietnamese workers, many of whom are employed at small- and medium-sized companies.

Demonstrating the sometimes tragic outcomes for the women, there have been incidents in various parts of the country where mothers have given birth unsupported in isolation and gone on to abandon their newborn infants. At least one died as a result.

According to a joint study conducted in 2023 by the support group and Kyodo News, for-profit agencies in countries that source foreign technical interns for Japanese companies sometimes recommend that women take contraceptive measures to prevent pregnancies.

The study revealed that the right to bear and raise children is often ignored due to the deeply entrenched attitudes prioritizing the prevention of pregnancies.

"Many of these women feel guilty about their pregnancies, as if they are bad for getting pregnant," said Yoshimizu. She stresses the importance of Japanese authorities gaining a better understanding of the situation, as the nation must take some responsibility for the women accepted under its foreign intern trainee program.

The Japanese government decided to launch a new "training and employment" system in 2027 or later to replace the technical internship program, which has come under heavy criticism for human rights violations and being a vehicle for the importation of cheap labor. The revamp is aimed at guaranteeing foreign workers are treated properly.

Yoshimizu, however, says the "same problems will be repeated" unless all parties involved work together to provide women with appropriate support.

She also emphasized the need for companies to be aware of their responsibilities and to expand their systems to allow for maternity leave vacancies.

She says her group is "working hard every day to provide support" in the hope that effective measures to protect human rights will be put in place as soon as possible.

(By Misato Iwai)