Smuggling for sex

Abstract

Japanese authorities have done little to stop women being smuggled into the country to work in the booming sex trade. Current laws only allow light sentences for protagonists; by contrast their victims are imprisoned and deported. Justin McCurry reports on Japan’s struggle to change. “Lena” was 26 when she was brought from Thailand to Japan with the promise of a job as an “entertainer”. But when she arrived her passport was confiscated; her job she quickly learned was to have sex with men in seedy hotel rooms. Her good looks made her a popular choice among clients; she earned 1 million yen (US$9100) in the first month alone. She needed the money. She owed 6 million yen ($55 000) to her traffickers and minders in Japan—a debt she was expected to pay back in full under the constant threat of violence. She was allowed to keep just 10 000 yen ($90) a month pocket money and was confined to a cramped one-room flat. The only time she ventured outside was to work. One night while waiting for a client in a hotel room she decided she could take it no longer. She dialled a Thai embassy helpline given to her secretly by another Thai woman. The voice at the other end of the line told her to leave the room immediately run as fast as she could for 30 minutes and call again. (excerpt)