CSECArchive 2008–2016

CSEC in Sapporo (2011)

A CSEC case from 2011 in Sapporo, Japan.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

The victim is a 16-year-old girl whose mother was selling her into prostitution. Her mother had been selling her since she was in the sixth grade, and the victim gave all her earnings (about 10,000 yen per client) to her mother. The victim’s mother used the money to purchase drugs, and the victim also began using drugs, allegedly at her mother’s instigation. The victim used a cell phone dating service to contact clients. When the victim’s mother was arrested for the use of illegal stimulants, the victim was taken into a child consultation center. The center failed to identify that the victim was being forced into prostitution, and she was released from the center in November of 2010. Later investigations reveal that after her release, the girl returned to live with her mother, who continued selling her as a prostitute. The victim was arrested on August 17, 2011, for the use of illegal stimulants, and is now in a juvenile detention center. The arrest took place at the apartment where she lived with her mother and stepfather. Her stepfather has been indicted on drug charges, and her mother has been missing since July. The victim’s case was referred to a family court in August of 2011, and her trial is scheduled to start in late September.

Response and intervention

The victim was previously taken into protective custody after her mother was arrested for the use of illegal stimulants. Later, in September 2011, the victim was arrested for the use of illegal stimulants, at which point it was revealed that she was being forced into prostitution. The victim stayed at a child’s consultation center for some time, but she was released back into the control of the trafficker when the center failed to recognize what was going on.

Nearby cases

All 7 in Japan →

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Bonded Labor2006

Tokyo, Japan, 2006

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Takashi Mori, 58, Koji Akagawa, 48, and two accomplices from Osaka sent false documents to the Japanese consulate in Khabarovsk, in Russia's Far East, with a request that visas be issued to a group of specialists for a period of training at one of the city's professional schools. A group of young Russian women entered Japan shortly after April 7. Investigation established that this and other groups, totaling 40 women, rather than taking courses were employed as hostesses at local restaurants and nightclubs.

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Sex Trafficking2011

Tokyo, Japan, 2011

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“Ahn recruited heavily indebted women and, through a loan shark, all their debts were repaid. Afterwards, they were sent to Japan, believing that they were to work at ‘massage parlors.’ Instead, the victims were locked up and forced to sell their bodies. “Their passports were also taken away from them and were under 24-hour surveillance. Most of the money they made was taken away.” A warrant for the trafficker’s arrest was issued on suspicion on of brokering Korean women into prostitution in Japan.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016