TOKYO - Tens of thousands of women are smuggled into Japan every year, according to estimates. So how can this trafficking be countered? Increasing awareness of the problem was the aim of a symposium held on 22 January by the ILO Tokyo Branch Office and the Asia Foundation, with cooperation from the Civil Society Organizations Network Japan.
The event provided a range of perspectives on trafficking in persons. NGOs assisting trafficked victims gave their views, as did law enforcement agencies, the diplomatic community, and policymakers. And a 23 year-old Colombian woman gave her own account of her two-year ordeal in Japan as an enslaved prostitute.
"The general public fails to see the women as victims," said Masahiro Suga, Senior Assistant for social issues at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, who was quoted in the Herald/Asahi newspaper after the symposium. Instead, the public views them "as women who entered the trade knowingly and are complaining about a bad deal. I used to share that view, but after the symposium, I saw it was a totally different situation and a more serious problem."
Panellists told the audience of around 300 people that the Japanese government should take what they described as a stronger stand on human smuggling and trafficking schemes. They said large numbers of women from other countries - in Asia as well as Latin America and elsewhere - come to Japan in response to promises of good jobs. Once they arrive, their "employers" and crime syndicates keep the victims virtual prisoners. Because they are burdened with unlawful debts, many of these women are forced into the sex industry.
Speakers also called on the government to ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which supplements the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000.
Contact: ILO Tokyo Branch Office,United Nations University, 8th floor.Headquarters Bldg. 53-70 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan, phone: +81 3 5467 2701, fax: +81 3 5467 2700, e-mail: tokyo@ilotyo.or.jp