Human trafficking in Japan

According to the United States' State Department, Japan is a major destination, source, and transit country for men and women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Victims of human trafficking include male and female migrant workers, women and children lured to Japan by fraudulent marriages and forced into prostitution, as well as Japanese nationals, "particularly runaway teenage girls and foreign-born children of Japanese citizens who acquired nationality." According to the 2014 U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, "The Government of Japan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so."^[4]

Human trafficking in Japan

Red-light districts are popular hangouts for sex workers.[1] (Nakasu, Fukuoka)
Sources	Japan, China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Post-Soviet states, Latin America
Perpetrators	Snakehead, Yakuza,[2] Russian mafia, Triads, Iranian gangs,[3] Nigerian gangs, American gangs

U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.^[5] Japan ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol on July 11, 2017.^[6]

In 2005 Irene Khan, then the Secretary General of Amnesty International, stated that the country received the largest number of trafficked persons globally, with the most common points of origin of victims being Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America.^[7]

History

Main article: Karayuki-san

See also: Slavery in Japan

Karayuki-san was the name given to Japanese girls and women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who were trafficked from poverty stricken agricultural prefectures in Japan to destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Siberia (Russian Far East), Manchuria, and British India to serve as prostitutes and sexually serviced men from a variety of races, including Chinese, Europeans, native Southeast Asians, and others.

Sex trafficking

Main article: Sex trafficking in Japan

Japanese and foreign^[8][9] women and girls have been victims of sex trafficking in Japan. They are raped in brothels and other locations and experience physical and psychological trauma.^{[dubious – discuss][10][11][12]}

See also

• Human rights in Japan § Trafficking of persons
• Crime in Japan
• Polaris Project
• Jake Adelstein

References

1. "Eliminating criminal organizations from red-light districts all over the country, formulating a reforming plan", December 13, 2004, Yahoo! News (in Japanese)
2. "Snakeheads in the Garden of Eden: Immigrants, Smuggling, and Threats to Social Order in Japan", H. Richard Friman
3. "May 2001 Newspaper Headlines", Hokuriku Economic Federation (in Japanese)
4. "Trafficking in Persons 2014 Report: Country Narrative: Japan". Trafficking in Persons Report 2014. U.S. Department of State (2014). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
6. "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime". United Nations Treaty Collection Archived 2014-10-01 at the Wayback Machine. United Nations Treaty Collection (2014).
7. "Amnesty Secretary General expects Japan's human rights awareness improving", June 6, 2005, Livedoor News (in Japanese)
8. "Seven Cambodians Rescued in Sex Trafficking Bust in Japan". VOA. January 24, 2017.
9. "Why are foreign women continuing to be forced into prostitution in Japan?". Mainichi Daily News. June 10, 2017.
10. "The Sexual Exploitation of Young Girls in Japan Is 'On the Increase,' an Expert Says". Time. October 29, 2019.
11. "For vulnerable high school girls in Japan, a culture of 'dates' with older men". The Washington Post. May 16, 2017.
12. "Schoolgirls for sale: why Tokyo struggles to stop the 'JK business'". The Guardian. June 15, 2019.