2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

J A P A N
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Prosecution
The Government of Jamaica increased its law
enforcement efforts against human trafficking
during the reporting period. In February, the
government passed and enacted the Trafficking in
Persons Act of 2007, comprehensive legislation that
prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons and
related offenses such as withholding a victim’s passport
or receiving financial benefits from trafficking
crimes. The new law became effective on March 1,
2007, and prescribes penalties of up to 10 years’
imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with punishments prescribed for
other grave crimes. During the reporting period, the
government initiated six trafficking prosecutions
under older laws; these prosecutions are ongoing.
Police also conducted high-profile raids on hotels
and 37 suspected sites of sex trafficking; nine trafficking
victims were found.
In November 2006, the government launched a
comprehensive study of human trafficking, focusing
on vulnerable persons and communities, to gain a
better understanding of the problem and to set up a
system for collection of trafficking data. The government
conducted widespread anti-trafficking training
of police, prosecutors, and immigration and consular
officials during the reporting period. A police Airport
Interdiction Task Force, created through a memorandum
of understanding between Jamaica and
the United States, actively investigates cases of drug
trafficking and human trafficking at ports of entry.
No reports of public officials’ complicity in human
trafficking were received in 2006.
Protection
The government’s efforts to protect trafficking victims
remained limited during the reporting period. Child
trafficking victims are referred to government-run
shelters, but there are no shelters serving adults.
Nonetheless, the government provides medical,
psychological, and legal services for all trafficking
victims and occasionally places adult victims in
hotels or other temporary facilities. Pursuant to the
Trafficking in Persons Act of 2007, Jamaican authorities
encourage victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers. Victims are
not penalized for immigration violations or other
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
trafficked. Jamaica provides temporary residency for
foreign trafficking victims and other legal alternatives
to deportation or removal.
Prevention
The government stepped up prevention efforts
during the reporting period. High-level government
officials condemned human trafficking in public
statements. In preparation for the Cricket World
Cup, the government requested anti-trafficking
training and materials from IOM, and pledged
to erect anti-trafficking billboards at all ports of
entry. Posters advertise 24-hour hotlines to report
suspected human trafficking cases. The government
also partnered with Air Jamaica to include anti-trafficking
information on all flights. The government
sponsored two anti-trafficking education events
that reached nearly 800 people, and the Bureau
of Women’s Affairs conducted 21 anti-trafficking
workshops for approximately 2,100 people.
JAPAN (Tier 2)
Japan is primarily a destination, and to a lesser
extent a transit country for men, women, and children
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. The majority of identified trafficking
victims are foreign women who migrate to Japan
seeking work, but who are deceived or coerced into
debt bondage or sexual servitude. Some migrant
workers are reportedly subjected to conditions of
forced labor through a “foreign trainee” program.
Women and children are trafficked to Japan for
commercial sexual exploitation from the People’s
Republic of China, South Korea, Southeast Asia,
Eastern Europe, Russia, and, to a lesser extent, Latin
America. Internal trafficking of Japanese minor
girls and women for sexual exploitation is also a
problem. Over the past year, exploiters of women in
Japan’s booming sex trade appear to have modified
their methods of controlling victims to limit their
opportunity to escape or seek help. Many female
victims will not step forward to seek help for fear
of reprisals by their traffickers, who are usually
members or associates of Japanese organized crime
syndicates (the Yakuza). Japanese men are involved
in child sex tourism in Southeast Asia.
The Government of Japan does not fully comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts
to do so. Japan showed modest progress in advancing
anti-trafficking reforms over the past year. The
Japanese government continued implementing
reforms initiated in 2005 through its national plan
of action and its inter-ministerial committee on
trafficking in persons, though progress appeared to
slow during the reporting period.
While prosecutions and convictions under Japan’s
2005 trafficking in persons statute increased significantly
this year, fewer victims of trafficking were
identified and assisted by Japanese authorities. The
58 victims found by the government in 2006 were
less than half the number identified in 2005. NGOs
and researchers agreed that the number of actual
victims probably greatly exceeded government
statistics. Some observers attribute this drop in
part to a move of more exploitative sex businesses
underground. The government should direct a more
proactive law enforcement campaign to investigate
suspected sites of commercial sexual exploitation in
order to identify and assist a far greater number of