shortly after the Tokyo Medical University entrance exam scandal. The school, one of the most highly regarded medical schools in Japan, was forced to admit that female applicants' exams scores had been regularly adjusted for more than ten years so as to lower the number of female students accepted. Several other medical schools were later revealed to have done the same. It also came after journalist Shiori Itō publicly spoke out against sexual harassment following her thwarted attempts to report her own sexual assault by Noriyuki Yamaguchi. Itō faced substantial backlash for speaking out, including being called an embarrassment and behaving immorally to advance her career. The harassment and threats became so severe that she eventually moved to the UK. However, this did not stop her from pursuing a civil case, which she won. She was chosen as one of TIME's 100 most influential people in 2020 for her legal and social justice work in the Me Too movement. Womenomics is a core part of Abenomics in which "women’s participation in the labor force is encouraged”. The initiative has made some difference in equalizing the professional field for women as well as provided evidence for the positive economic effects of having women in positions of power within companies. However, it has not succeeded at placing a significant number of women in positions of power or addressed the deeply rooted societal expectations related to progressing women’s rights in the workplace. This was recently exemplified by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, notably the lack of job security endemic to a female labor force made up of a majority of "non-regular workers" whose income is perceived as supplementary to that of an assumed male partner. Additionally, there is some concern that the gains made so far are at risk following the resignation of Abe in August 2020 and the uncertain economic vision and conservative leanings of incomer Yoshihide Suga. See also High heel policy References 2019 in women's history Feminist movements and ideologies Women in Japan Feminism in Japan 2019 in Japan