A Japanese medical school deliberately cut women’s entrance test scores for several years, a panel of lawyers hired by the school to investigate the issue said on Tuesday, calling it a “very serious” instance of discrimination.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a priority of creating a society “where women can shine”, but women in Japan still face an uphill battle in employment and face hurdles returning to work after childbirth, which contributes to a falling birthrate.

The alterations were uncovered in an internal investigation of a graft accusation this spring regarding the entrance exam for Tokyo Medical University, sparking protests and widespread anger following media reports last week.

Lawyers investigating bribery accusations in the admission of the son of a senior education ministry official said they concluded that his score and that of several other men were boosted “unfairly” – some by as much as 49 points.

They also concluded that scores were manipulated to give men more points than women and thus hold down the number of women admitted.

“This incident is really regrettable – by deceptive recruitment procedures, they sought to delude the test takers, their families, school officials and society as a whole,” lawyer Kenji Nakai told a news conference.

“Factors suggesting very serious discrimination against women was also part of it,” added Nakai, one of the external lawyers hired by the university to investigate the incident.

The investigation showed the scores of men – including those reappearing after failing once or twice – were raised a certain number of points. Those of all women, and men who had failed the test at least three times, were not, however.

The lawyers said they did not know how many women had been affected, but it appeared that women’s test scores had been affected going back at least a decade.

Medical school authorities have called a news conference for 5 p.m. No immediate comment was available from the government or the education ministry official who figures in the case.

Entrance exam discrimination against women was “absolutely unacceptable”, Education Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters last week, however.

Reports of the incident appeared at the start of August, setting off a furore in Japan, spurring women to recount their own experiences of discrimination on social media with the hashtag, “It’s okay to be angry about sexism.”

Some referred to the potential costs exacted in a rapidly ageing society.

“I’m 29 and will probably never get married,” said one poster.

“Women are pitied if they don’t, but Japanese women who are married and working and have kids end up sleeping less than anybody in the world. To now hear that even our skills are suppressed makes me shake with rage.”

Another said,”I ignored my parents, who said women don’t belong in academia, and got into the best university in Japan. But in job interviews I’m told ‘If you were a man, we’d hire you right away.’

“My enemy wasn’t my parents, but all society itself.”

A Muslim man had to abandon his National Express journey  early after a passenger complained to staff.

The incident took place last Thursday, according to a report in the Bristol Post. A spokesman for National Express suggested the complaints concerned his ‘bulky’ luggage. The passenger then left Bristol Coach Station after refusing to store luggage in the hold. Part of that luggage included a printer he did not want to store below.

Other passengers challenge that claim. Nick McDonald said that he “heard the group of women at the front of the coach say he looked ‘shifty’“. University of Bristol student Rebekah Makinde suggested the motive was Islamophobic profiling.

Earlier this year and the National Express coach service made headlines for the wrong reason. Yusra Ahmed, 20, and friends had attempted to board a coach from Manchester to Leeds when a driver barred them over a dispute over curry.

She had posted on Facebook that: “I told her that we weren’t intending on eating on the coach, but she continued shouting to us about stinking up her coach with curry. We offered to give the takeaway food to the homeless outside and put the remainder of it in the luggage section, but she kept banging on about our ‘smelly curry food’”.

Her friend, Samera Hanif, 19, said that the company had acknowledged that the driver had admitted making the curry remarks. She claimed that the company would only apologise for the failure to let them board, not the racist remark.

Others are taking to social media to register their disgust. One person posted to their official Facebook: “Really … I will never use your disgusting company again and shall be advising all like minded non racists to do the same … Shame on you National Express”.

National Express have been approached for comment.

Updated statement from a National Express spokesperson:

“We categorically deny that the incident in which a passenger was asked to leave one of our coaches was in any way Islamophobic. The gentleman concerned boarded with excess luggage which became an issue for a number of our other customers. Our luggage policy makes is quite clear that only small items of soft hand luggage that can be stored in the overhead compartments or underneath the seat are permitted on the customer compartment of the coach. All other items of luggage must be stored in the hold. The full policy can be viewed online at this link.

The customer refused to put his excess luggage in the hold when requested, was abusive towards our staff and walked out of the station. Our staff, who often have to make difficult decisions at short notice, remained professional throughout and are extremely upset at these serious allegations that they were anti-Muslim, which are both unfounded and untrue.

I can assure you that National Express does not tolerate behaviour by employees or customers which discriminates against any form of religion or worship. We are one of the largest employers in Birmingham and we also have a significant number of employees who are Muslim.”

The post Muslim man removed from National Express coach because passenger felt ‘uncomfortable’ appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Anti-Muslim bigotry, it seems, comes in various shapes and guises. From the abuse on the street, through to the attack on a mosque or individual, there are multiple impacts. Yet, we should also ensure that we reflect on anti-Muslim bigotry within the workplace and how power relations can be used to further victimis those who are targeted for this form of bigotry.

A Muslim woman contacted us a few days ago to complain about the way that she was treated at work. This is her experience of suffering abuse and rejection. We have also advised her to seek legal redress on what seems to be, discrimination in employment.

“A six-foot male at my workplace attempted to attack me due to wearing a Hijab. He came at me in full force less than a day after declaring his dislike of me wearing the Hijab at least twice. I stated that I would not remove my Hijab and he ran towards me. Three men pulled him away from me as he shouted and screamed at me, so Alhamdulillah he was not able to remove my Hijab.

This attack was witnessed by all my colleagues who have been supportive but the male is in a relationship with the senior manager-third in the hierarchy of the managers – so they took no action. On 18/09/15 they sacked me. It’s a huge injustice and I feel so upset I cannot explain. I feel like I am losing faith in humanity with the non-action of the employers and they have promoted the racism by sacking me. All the Muslim and non-Muslim colleagues have been supportive and are also in shock at what this man did. But the management has taken no action against him. This man is clearly strong on his own religious beliefs as shown by a big cross he has on his desk and all sorts of books on Jesus and Christianity all over his work desk, but has an intolerance for Islam and a few days ago stated he dislikes Muslims.

Ultimately this is an example of intolerance towards the Hijab and Islamophobia in both that male perpetrator and the employers who supported the individual and who punished the victim, thus encouraging this type of intolerance towards Muslims in society.”

The post Institutional Anti-Muslim Bigotry More Insidious appeared first on TELL MAMA.