Asia-Japan Women's Resource Center (AJWRC) is a non-profit membership-based organization that advocates for gender equality and raises awareness about gender-based violence. Individuals can sign up for voting or non-voting memberships with full access to its resources for $60-75 per year, or just for a yearly subscription to the “Voices from Japan” magazine for $15 per year. Members receive publications, join meetings, get discount tickets for seminars and tours, and access events to network with other members and exchange information. Non-members may also buy event tickets and publications on AJWRC’s website. Some of the topics that its publications, reports, and events focus on are reproductive rights, gender equality, and gender-based violence. Half of AJWRC’s operations are funded by membership fees, a third by publication sales, and the rest by ticket sales and donations that they crowdfund on their social media and website. In addition to a small team, AJWRC works closely with volunteers who help the organization with designing graphics and images, translating materials, and organizing events.

Theory of Change

Raising awareness about womens’ rights, gender inequality, and reproductive rights to empower greater community involvement helps eliminate gender-based violence and discrimination. 

Activities

AJWRC organizes campaigns, hosts events and issues statements, reports, and magazines about women's rights in Japan and the World. Its website and social media accounts regularly announce events, news articles, and information about gender equality. In addition, AJWRC hosts seminars and workshops on gender issues, as well as lectures and training workshops for youth, teachers, and local governments. These topics range from violence against women, nationalism, economic issues, and women’s movements. Since 2000, AJWRC has been granted special consultative status and has submitted reports to UN Human Rights mechanisms.

Results

Since 1995, AJWRC has hosted over 300 events, published over 200 magazines and journals, shared over 1,000 news articles about gender inequality in Japan and abroad, and submitted numerous reports with various UN mechanisms. Through its social media accounts, AJWRC’s posts and resources reach over 7,000 twitter followers and over 3,000 Facebook followers.