Japan wants to significantly boost the number of women in the Self-Defense Forces by the mid 2030s, the Defense Ministry has said, as it struggles to convince young people to enlist.

Under a new target set this year, women should account for 13% of SDF members by March 2036, up from 9% currently, the ministry said.

The recruitment drive comes as the ministry pledged to improve conditions for female personnel in the wake of a widely reported sexual assault scandal in which an ex-member used YouTube to share her story after an internal probe was dropped.

The ministry plans ※to promote the active engagement of female personnel§ it said in a statement, emphasizing the need for ※work-life balance.§

As opportunities for female troops continue to expand, the ministry is ※improving facilities ... including the development of women＊s restrooms, baths, and dedicated areas at each garrison and base, as well as women＊s quarters on vessels,§ it added.

Tokyo is upping defense spending and trying to lure more talent to its armed forces, as anxiety grows over China＊s territorial ambitions in the region.

But dangerous duties, low pay and a young retirement age of around 56 are off-putting for young Japanese, officials and experts say.

Japan＊s low birth rate, shrinking population and tight labor market are also complicating recruitment, leaving 10% of the force＊s approximately 250,000 positions unfilled.

Although the SDF has sophisticated defense capabilities, it has until recently refrained from having counterattack capability, reflecting the U.S.-imposed pacifist Constitution that bans the use of force as means of settling conflicts.

None of the current forces＊ members have died in conflict or killed anyone. Most of the some 2,000 personnel deaths in the line of duty since 1950, when the SDF＊s predecessor organization was established, ocurred during combat drills.

Among NATO member countries and their partner states, there are, on average, more female troops, and they accounted for more than 12% of armed forces personnel as of 2022, according to a report by the European Parliamentary Research Service. That was up from just over 10% in 2014.

In the United States, women made up around 18% of recruits as of 2023, according to the Department of Defense.

Increasing the number of female SDF personnel ※will help bring a wider variety of perspectives to our missions, such as disaster relief operations and other activities involving direct interaction with the public,§ the Defense Ministry said.

The upper echelons of politics, business, government and the SDF continue to be male-dominated.

Rina Gonoi, who was sexually assaulted while serving in the SDF, reached a settlement with the government and her former colleague in January this year after a yearslong legal battle.