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Japanese government begins efforts to halt human trafficking
BY Yoshimi Nagamine
October 24, 2004
Tokyo - The Japanese government has begun talks to establish a legal framework
to halt international trafficking of women and children brought to the nation
to work as prostitutes, and human-rights groups want the policy to include
protection for the victims.
Dealers involved in the human trade hunt for women everywhere to use them as
property.
The U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
adopted in 2000 mandates governments to protect and support victims of human
trafficking.
Governments of the nations that signed the protocol have worked out legal
measures to punish offenders but protect victims through withholding penalties
for engaging in prostitution or illegally residing within their borders.
In the United States, the Trafficking of Victims Protection Act allows victims
to remain in the country for some time and receive public support that supplies
them with housing, medical and interpretive services, for example.
In France, victims are sent to public-run facilities for shelter and social
rehabilitation that is designed to help them return to a life away from
prostitution. The center provides the victims with a temporary residency permit
on condition that they cooperate with a police investigation and attempt to
find legal work.
Although Japan signed the U.N. protocol in 2002, the country has made little
progress on the issue.
A Thai woman was persuaded by the Japanese man with whom she lived to return to
Thailand when he learned she was pregnant. The man paid her debts to a broker
and promised to send her money after she returned. But she lost contact with
him and was forced to return to prostitution to support her family, leaving her
prey to a local crime syndicate.
This example was presented to lawmakers during a meeting in Tokyo that was
organized by a Thailand-based civic group that supports female victims of human
trafficking.
In this case, a woman who appeared to have been saved from a terrible situation
fell into a similar trap.
Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a former U.S. senator and the wife of Howard Baker Jr.,
U.S. ambassador to Japan, attended the meeting, at which she emphasized the
importance of protecting victims and providing a safe environment in which they
can testify against offenders without fear of retribution.
In June, the U.S. State Department released a report titled "Trafficking in
Persons Report 2004," in which Japan was the only industrially developed
country to be included in the Tier 2 List for Trafficking. Countries on the
list do not meet minimum U.S. standards for combating trafficking, but are
making efforts to comply.
The listing urged the government to take serious action in summer toward
working out a legal framework on the issue.
The Justice Ministry hopes to revise the Criminal Code in next year's ordinary
Diet session to enable the government to charge those involved in human
trafficking.
But this action does not extend to significantly improving the nation's support
system for victims. Police and judicial authorities will devise a plan this
year, but the practical effects remain questionable.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to use women's consultation
centers run by local governments and private-sector shelters to provide victims
with temporary protection. But these facilities focus on assisting victims of
domestic violence.
If the government is to rely on private shelters that barely have enough funds
to operate, it should begin offering them financial support.
There are numerous problems to solve, including helping the victims return to
society and stay away from prostitution.
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