New Women's Association
The New Women's Association (NWA, also known as New Women's Society 新婦人協会, Shin-fujin kyōkai) was a Japanese women's rights organization founded in 1919. The organization strove to enhance women's rights in the areas of education, employment, and suffrage. It also aimed to protect women from venereal disease by attempting to prevent men with these diseases from marrying, as well as by allowing women whose husbands had these diseases to get a divorce. The organization played an important role in changing Article 5 of the Public Peace Police Law, which had prohibited women from participating in public meetings. NWA also enlisted the help of men as advocates for women in politics.
The organization is widely credited for raising the issue of women's rights in Japan and influencing the Diet's decision to expand them. The Diet passed changes to Article 5 of the Public Peace Police Law in 1922. The organization disbanded in the same year under the authority of leader Hiratsuka Raichō.