Kato carries the torch for women worldwide. Japan
Joicfp News 1998(285): 4
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0911-0755 PMID: 12348366 Document Number: 272593
101 years old on March 2, 1998, Shidzue Kato is one of the founding members of JOICFP and president of both the IPPF-affiliated Family Planning Federation of Japan (FPFJ) and JOICFP. Kato was inspired to start the then called birth control movement after meeting Margaret Sanger in 1920. She was subsequently imprisoned for her beliefs by the pronatalist military government, but remained committed to the notions of family planning (FP) and women's empowerment, and has since become the single-most prominent person in the FP movement in Japan. Kato remains a vocal and powerful advocate of reproductive health (RH) and rights in Japan. Kato expressed her determination to keep working for women's empowerment and RH at JOICFP's 30th anniversary in January. With approximately 585,000 women dying annually from pregnancy-related causes, Kato understands that much remains to be accomplished in the way of FP, RH, and reproductive rights.