Human Rights Watch
Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked Into Debt in Japan
(New York: Human Rights Watch, 2000, 227pp.)

Human Rights Watch is an NGO known for its serious research into human rights violations in the spirit of its aim: "We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice."  Human Rights Watch has a research section devoted to the way women are able to exercise universally-recognized human rights.  This study draws upon research, especially interviews, carried out by Human Rights Watch staff as well as drawing upon the research and experience of active Japanese NGOs and academic researchers.

The study begins with the present reality of the Japanese sex entertainment businesses .

"There are an estimated 150,000 non-Japanese women employed in the Japanese sex industry, primarily from other Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines.  These women are typically employed in the lower rungs of the industry.  Human Rights Watch found that women trafficked from Thailand are typically employed either in 'dating' snack bars or in low-end brothels, in which customers pay for short periods of eight or fifteen minutes.  Abuses are common as job brokers and employers take advantage of foreign women's vulnerability as undocumented migrants: they cannot seek recourse from the police or other law enforcement authorities without risking deportation and potential prosecution, and they are isolated by language barriers, a lack of community, and a lack of familiarity with their surroundings.  Compounding the difficulty and danger of escape, women in 'debt' are kept under constant surveillance, their wages  are withheld, and their passports and other documentation are confiscated, depriving them proof of identity.  In addition, the Yakuza (organized criminal groups)  is heavily involved  in the operation of these establishments; bar and brothel owners are often Yakuza members themselves, or pay protection money to the Yakuza in exchange for assistance both in 'disciplining' women who disobey orders or attempt to escape and in evading police and immigration raids.

"The  brokers and employers involved in recruiting foreign women into Japan derive enormous profits from their earnings.  Even at the lower end of the sex industry, fees are significant, and brokers and employers take a large cut by entirely withholding wages from women in debt and taking up to fifty percent of the fees from non-indebted women.  Women from Thailand who work in 'dating' snack bars reported that clients were charged fees of US$ 170-250 for two hours and US$ 250-340 for a full night.  While in debt, the women typically worked seven nights a week, servicing between one and three clients a night, and all of their earnings went to their employer.  Using conservative figures, a noted Thai economist estimated the gross annual income generated by Thai sex workers in Japan as US$ 3.3 billion.

With so much money at stake, with the possibilities of bribes to police, immigration officials and others in both Japan and Thailand, it is easy to see why prevention measures have met with little success. The situation is made more complicated as in Thailand, illegally, there are women from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, China, and Myanmar (Burma) working in sex trades, also trafficked from their countries to Thailand.  In addition, not all members of hill tribes in Thailand are considered Thai citizens and so must travel on false Thai passports.  When such women are taken to Japan, they receive no protection from Thai embassy staff and none from the diplomatic services of their home country.

The scourge of trafficking will continue to grow unless strong counter measures are taken.  Basically, police and governments worldwide do not place a high priority on the fight against trafficking unless illegal migration becomes a media issue, such as the sinking of a small boat bringing Africans to Spain or Albanians to Italy, or the fear of thousands from Haiti landing in the USA.

Intergovernmental organizations such as the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization - especially in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, and the International Organization for Migration - all have anti-trafficking programs, but they have few people "on the ground" dealing directly with the issue.

Thus real progress needs to be made through NGOs.  There are four aspects to this anti-trafficking effort.  The first is to help build political will by giving accurate information to political leaders and the press.  The other three aspects depend on the efforts of NGOs themselves. Such efforts call for increased cooperation among NGOs and capacity building.

The second aspect is research into the areas from which children and women are trafficked.  These are usually the poorest parts of the country and among marginalized populations.  Socio-economic and educational development projects must be directed to these areas so that there are realistic avenues for advancement.

The third aspect is the development of women's shelters to ensure that women who have been able to leave exploitive situations have temporary housing and other necessary services including training so that they can find jobs outside the sex trade.

The fourth aspect is psychological healing.  Very often women and children who have been trafficked into the sex trades have a disrupted or violent family and have a poor idea of their self-worth. Thus, it is important to create opportunities for individual and group healing, to give a spiritual dimension to the person through teaching meditation and yoga.  There are needs for creating adult education facilities so that people may continue a broken educational cycle.

There are NGOs who are already working on these lines.  Their efforts need to be encouraged and expanded.

René Wadlow