Thai Group Wants Japan to Punish Customers of Prostitutes

Bangkok, Dec. 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan should apply penalties to the customer’s side, as well as the seller’s side, over prostitution, Pavena Hongsakul, president of the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women, a Thai organization that supports victims of sex trafficking, said. A case in which a 12-year-old Thai girl was forced to provide sexual services at a massage shop in Tokyo sent shock waves across society in the Southeast Asian country in addition to Japan. Cases of Thai women being forced into prostitution in Japan are not rare, Pavena said in an interview with Jiji Press. But the incident in Tokyo was the first confirmed case of forced prostitution that involved a Thai child victim outside Thailand, she said. This is a cruel act that hurts and abandons a child, Pavena said, referring to allegations that the mother of the victim took her own daughter to the massage shop. The foundation in the first 11 months of this year received reports that 104 people who went overseas from Thailand were forced into prostitution, in 19 countries, including 43 victims in the United Arab Emirates, 12 in Myanmar, 11 in Georgia, five each in Malaysia and Bahrain and four in Cambodia. There were three other victims in Japan, according to the foundation. Two of them, aged 34 and 40, were offered jobs as massage therapists in Japan via social media. After they arrived in Japan, however, the broker side told them to prostitute themselves. When they tried to reject the instruction, sums of 80,000 to 90,000 baht were demanded. After the foundation paid the money, the two were released. Due to remorse for having prostituted themselves, the victims did not make reports to the police. In many cases, those women had applied for jobs through social media advertising, posted by brokers, for massage therapist work abroad. Some offers promise as much as 500,000 baht for 10 months’ work. But they end up being forced to prostitute themselves after the broker side claims that rejecting this would be a breach of contract. In 1996, Thailand established a new law to impose strict punishments for the customer’s side, in addition to the seller’s side, over prostitution. According to Thai police, those who arrange children for prostitution face up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment. Paying minors aged 15-17 for sex is punishable by 10 years in prison. Pavena played a major role in enacting the new law, as a lower house lawmaker. The new law also includes economic and mental support to those who have been deceived and forced into prostitution. Since the new law’s entry into force, the situation has been gradually improving, Pavena said. Legislative revisions that punish the customer’s side should be supported in Japan as well, she said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]