Human-trafficking at record 79 cases but number more likely in thousands

Japan Times : Human-trafficking at record 79 cases but number more likely in thousands

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Police either made arrests in or turned over to prosecutors 79 cases of alleged human-trafficking involving foreign women forced into the sex industry or other forms of exploitation last year.
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The cases are believed to be just the tip of the iceberg. Human rights groups and researchers estimate thousands of women, mostly from poor parts of Asia, are trafficked into Japan every year and forced to work in the sex trade.

Japan came under international pressure last year to combat human-trafficking after the U.S. State Department issued a report in June slamming Japan's efforts to crack down on the problem.

Tokyo subsequently adopted a plan to combat human-trafficking in December.

As Japan has no specific laws against human-trafficking, police have to use other laws related to immigration, prostitution, employment security and other areas to combat the problem.

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That is part of my complain about Japan's legal system, but possibly due to different moral standards, namely that prostitution has always existed, is natural and necessary for the society as an outlet to violence for men. Maybe, but that doesn't mean human trafficking is justified and that there should be no law about it.

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Originally Posted by Maciamo

Japan Times : Human-trafficking at record 79 cases but number more likely in thousands

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If they work a bit harder at it they might catch up with America
http://www.demdsynod.org/news/newscl...ckingconf.html

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Originally Posted by PaulTB

If they work a bit harder at it they might catch up with America
http://www.demdsynod.org/news/newscl...ckingconf.html

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Well, Japan likes to immitate the US. Maybe the figures "per capita" are already as high, but not reported.

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Originally Posted by Maciamo

Well, Japan likes to immitate the US. Maybe the figures "per capita" are already as high, but not reported.

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I don't actually mind much about which figure is above the other - per capita or otherwise - it's just my reflex reaction to something seeming to be a big Japanese problem as opposed to just a big problem, also happening in Japan.

That's true. Maybe I should give comparative figures.

CNN : Sex slavery: The growing trade

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Originally Posted by CNN

An estimated two million women and children are sold into the sex trade every year, the U.S. research group Protection Project states.
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Up to 120,000 women are smuggled into western Europe, mainly from central and eastern Europe, and forced into prostitution.
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It says more than 15,000 women are trafficked into the United States every year, many of them young girls from Mexico.
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Almost 200,000 girls from Nepal, many of them under the age of 14, are working as sex slaves in India.

An estimated 10,000 women from the former Soviet Union have been forced into prostitution in Israel.

The Thai government reports that 60,000 Thai children have been sold into prostitution.

As many as 10,000 children aged between six and 14 are virtually enslaved in brothels in Sri Lanka.

Some 20,000 women and children from Burma have been forced into prostitution in Thailand.

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The figures for Europe are actually higher. That is surprisingl considering the vey high number of soaplands, 'massage parlours', etc. in Japan, while I have seen very few such places or brothels in Europe. There are brothels/strip-clubs in Western Europe but only in relatively big cities/towns, limited to a small neighbourhood (eg. Pigalle in Paris, Soho in London), but It's definitely not something that can be found in front of every metro or train station like in Tokyo (or the Japanese cities I have been to, not sure for others, but probably the same, as for everything in Japan). However, the Japanese ones are much more discreet (the 'massage parlour' type where the prostitute try to lure the men walking in the street inside. Can't count the number of times some dubbious Asian woman with a clearly non-Japanese accent (maybe Chinese, Thai or Filipina) trying to hook me to one of the 'massage parlour' on a main street near a station. This never happened to me in Europe, as I would have to pass through a dubbious area in the first place. In Japan it can't be avoided, except if one stays at home or live in the remote countryside (but most Japanese live in big cities, 1/4 in Tokyo, another quarter in Kansai).

I have travelled to many countries, including most of South-East Asia (except Myanmar and Laos), but the only country that I can compare to Japan for the number of hookers, soaplands, etc. is Thailand. Maybe I didn't see them in Vietnam as I was with my wife, and not so much in the Philippines because I got out of Manila for the traditional countryside as soon as I could. I am sure the problem is also rampant there, and possibly worse than Japan. What I want to say is that Japan is definitely closer to these Asian countries than to what I experienced in Europe. This surprised me at first, as I thought prostitution was caused by poor economic conditions (which Japan does suffer from). But I realised that it is more a matter of culture. There is much less stigma on sex and prostitution in East Asia than in Western countries. Things are just more apparent - they don't even try to dissimulate it. And there doesn't need to be one special district for it when there can be many all over the city.

This being said, I don't really care. I just wanted to point out at an obvious difference between "East" and "West". After that it's a matter of personal preference/sensibility.

There was an article about sexual slave and human-trafficking in The New York Times magazine last year; it was horrifying to read. There was this photo of a young woman standing, facing down as if trying to hide, in the middle of 40~50 men straring at her in a circle which was taken in Mexico; a lot of men in a suit and looked like ordinary businessmen.
In the article, it said that the captives, as young as toddlers, are bought to many professionals such as bankers, lawyers, doctors and even child psycologists.

It is so messed up.

There's a lot about that in the media here. There are people in eastern europe who's business is smuggle women (and probably boys and girls as well :frown: ) in here from the east, and 'sold' to any sick fsck who pays. They're having them locked up in apartments, and takes them out only when they're to serve that purpose. It's really, really sick. Oh, and if you have strong feelings about this, don't watch 'Lilja 4-ever'..

:okashii:

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Originally Posted by Maciamo

This being said, I don't really care. I just wanted to point out at an obvious difference between "East" and "West". After that it's a matter of personal preference/sensibility.

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As far as prostitution goes it isn't so much happens vs doesn't happen as is visible vs isn't visible.

Which is better? A country with hidden prostitution or one with open prostitution?

In my opinion licensed and regulated legal activities such as soapland (I won't say 'prostitution' as there's that clintonesque pretence that actual sex isn't supposed to take place) are a (small) step up on an equivalent amount of unlicensed and illegal activity.

I am, however, disappointed with the evidence that even in countries where prostituion is legal (e.g. Australia) illegal prostitution is still present. The main two reasons for which seems to be a) An illegal immigrant (voluntarily, duped or kidnapped into the country) is cheaper than a legal worker and b) People with nasty desires can't always be satisfied with what's available over the counter.