User:Chichi2021/Sex trafficking in Japan

Children
The "JK business" is one of the representative practices that represents sexual exploitation in Japan. It is a compensated dating business where girls individually provide dating services to Japanese men for a fee. The "JK business" offers "hidden options" and attracted numbers of high school girls to earn extra money. Evidence suggests these dating activities are preparatory stages for potential forms of child prostitution and child abuse, however, this type of business appeared to be socially accepted and tolerated. According to the 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, there were 137 JK business operations identified and non closed; 69 individuals arrested for being engaged in criminal activities surrounding the JK business.

Modeling scam
There are issues around forced acting in pornographic photographs and films within the Japanese society. Victims are commonly women who are reportedly tricked into the industry under false promises of modeling or acting jobs, and then later threatened to perform in AVs (adult videos). If victims try to refuse, agents allegedly threaten that they will have to pay penalties, or they will reveal the videos to the victim’s family. Victims are also forced to sign contracts through which they abandon certain legal rights, such as copyrights of the films in which they are portrayed.

Vulnerability (new section)
Besides young Japanese women and girls, foreign women who work in or migrate to Japan are also vulnerable to sexual exploitation, especially those from Cambodia, Thailand, and Filipino. These victims are often lured by false promises of work opportunities in Japan arrive on short-stay visas. Once they arrive in Japan, they are subsequently forced into sex work, however, their involvement in the adult entertainment industry are generally regarded as voluntary participants, whatever their circumstances. Because of the visa status, these foreign workers are reluctant to seek help from local authorities since they acknowledge the vise was not able to grant them legal working rights in Japan. Combined with factors such as psychological intimidation, language barriers, and cultural differences, foreign women are at a higher vulnerable position.

Government response (new section)
Japanese authorities have taken law enforcement actions against adult and child sex trafficking. The Employment Security Act (ESA) and the Labor Standards Act (LSA) both criminalized forced labor, which protects mental and physical freedom of the workers and serves as a measure against sex trafficking. The “Act on Regulation and Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Pornography and the Protection of Children” criminalized engaging in commercial sexual exploitation of a child, including purchase or sale of children for the purpose of production of child pornography or prostitution. On March 29, 2016, a cabinet decision was made on “Regarding basic policies on activities relating to measures against sexual exploitation etc. of children”. This decision was meant to eradicate the sexual victimization of children resulting from child prostitution and production of child pornography. The National Public Safety Commission has been designated to govern the overall measures against the sexual exploitation of children. The police also work closely together with the relevant ministries and authorities to crackdown child prostitution-related crimes. Seven major prefectures maintained ordinances banning JK businesses, prohibiting girls younger than 18 from working in compensated dating services, or requiring JK business owners to register their employee rosters with local public safety commissions.