Tomoko Yonezu

Tomoko Yonezu (; born 1948) is a Japanese human rights activist. A key member of ūman ribu, the women's liberation movement in Japan, she advocated for intersectionality within the movement to involve the rights of women with disabilities during the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life Yonezu was born in 1948. She contracted polio while living in Tokyo in 1951, which left her right leg paralysed, requiring the use of a leg brace in order to walk. Yonezu later described herself as being seen as a "burdensome child" by some members of her family.

Activism

Student protests In January 1969, Yonezu joined student protests against the planned relocation of Tama Art University from Kaminoge to Hachiōji. While participating in a barricade, she noticed that while male students were taking a leading role in the protests, including giving speeches, women were expected to complete more supportive tasks; Yonezu, for example, was responsible for cleaning toilets. She later expressed frustration at the sidelining of women in the protest movement and the lack of male solidarity for issues experienced by women in Japanese society. In 1973, the Japanese government announced plans to revise the Eugenic Protection Law, which had permitted abortion on the grounds of economic hardship; the proposed revision included removing the "economic reasons clause", while adding a "foetal clause" that would permit abortion based on diagnosed foetal abnormalities. Yonezu feared that the latter clause, if added, would lead to people with disabilities "no longer existing", and worked to encourage the movement to campaign against the foetal clause alongside its support of the economic reasons clause.

As part of the campaign, Yonezu worked to improve relationships between the ūman ribu movement and the disability rights movement, the latter of which was reluctant to work with the women's liberation movement due to a belief that its members would likely choose to abort a foetus with abnormalities. Yonezu was able to spearhead the movement to publicly express its support for people with disabilities; she also facilitated disability rights groups such as Aoi shiba no kai to facilitate training on discrimination against people with disabilities at the Ribu Shinkuju Centre. The government ultimately shelved plans to reform the Eugenic Protection Law. Yonezu's protest was centred on the museum's decision to restrict access for visitors requiring assistance, including people with physical disabilities, to one day a week.

Closure of the Ribu Shinjuku Centre and subsequent activism The ūman ribi movement formally dispersed in May 1977 when the Ribu Shinjuku Centre closed. Shortly afterwards, Yonezu was diagnosed with atrial septal defect and was forced to return to living with her parents due to her ill health. In 1982, it was publicly announced that the Japanese government was reconsidering plans to reform the Eugenic Protection Law, which led to Yonezu resuming her role as an activist, making and distributing a popular pamphlet, and co-forming the activist network '82 Liaison Group to Block the Revision of the Protection Law (82 Yūsei Hogohō kaiaku soshi renrakukai). The campaign called for the Eugenic Protection Law to be left unrevised. In 1983, after the government shelved plans to reform the law, the group renamed itself as SOSHIREN - From my Body, from Women's Bodies .

Recognition Yonezu is mentioned in the novella Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, where the main character, a disabled women, considers writing her dissertation on Yonezu.