Study case: Trafficking in Women and Children in Japan

Introduction
Japan is one of the richest countries in the world. In 2002, the GDP = US$4 trillion. However, the Japanese still have various problems related to trafficking in women and children in ways different from developing countries.

In Japan recently, juvenile delinquency has emerged as a major social problem. Prostitution by high school and junior high school girls has become one of the most characteristic delinquencies. Also in 2003, 4412 juveniles were placed under guidance or taken into protective custody for sexual misconduct.

These  delinquent  girls  are  really  exploited  by  shameless  adults,  but  many of them are not forced to sell their bodies. That is, they engaged in prostitution spontaneously, as a business.They just want extra money for fashionable cosmetics, brand-new bags and clothes, tickets for discos and concerts, updating their cellular phones, and so on. They often describe their misconducts as Enjo-Kosai, or simply En-Ko,  which  means  “supportive  intercourse”  in  English.

This loss of morality may be attributed to recent failures within the educational system. After World War II, the occupying forces revised all the Japanese governmental systems drastically. In modern Japanese educational structure, the teaching of “morality” and “discipline” has been neglected as a result of the false charge that they comprised the core of Japan’s former militarism.

Generally called Lolicon, who are perverts who have sexual desires for girls under 12 years of age. In Japan, as a result of the nation’s rapid Westernization after the Second World War, women are getting stronger both physically and mentally. As a result, some men who are disenchanted by assertive adult females are interested in young girls, who are still obedient. 

Some Lolicon men have participated in Enjo-Kosai with young girls, but they are worried about investigation by the Japanese police, so now they are going to Southeast Asian countries, where they can easily find prostitution houses full of young girls.

The  Japanese  Law  for  Punishing  Acts  related  to  Child  Prostitution  and Child Pornography can punish a Japanese citizen who has committed sexual crimes abroad, but practically, the investigation of this crimes is quite difficult.