Japan eyes prostitution law change to punish sex buyers

TOKYO: Experts have urged Japan to reform its prostitution law to punish those seeking to buy sex, a proposal that is expected to result in amendments to the long-standing legislation. Currently, street sex workers face fines or imprisonment for solicitation, whereas their customers are not penalized, making Japan a rarity among developed nations.

The panel of legal experts, proposing the abolition of this asymmetry, suggested that both clients and sellers be penalized for solicitation in both public and online spaces. It is anticipated that the justice ministry will implement legal amendments according to the panel's recommendations. Activities like negotiating paid sex in public and loitering on the street to browse sex workers should be considered punishable, the panel stated.

While some campaigners advocate for the Nordic model, which decriminalizes selling sex while criminalizing paying for it, a model adopted by countries like Sweden, Norway, and France, the panel did not endorse decriminalizing sex work entirely or redefining prostitution to include acts beyond vaginal intercourse. Some sellers willingly entered the sex trade, and their solicitation disrupts social order, according to the panel.

Risa, a member of the sex trade survivor group Toka (Light), expressed concerns that if laws continue to target sellers, sex workers will be unable to report violence and other traumatic experiences to the police out of fear of being labeled criminals. Risa, who joined the sex trade in her 20s to survive adversities such as her abusive, drunk father, job loss, and depression, recounted how she had to act like a doll, suppressing all emotions and pretending to be pleased despite any abuse.

Some critics argue that the concept of free will in sex work is a myth, as many women are coerced into the trade due to factors like poverty, trauma, and disability. The panel emphasized that the 1956 enactment of Japan's anti-prostitution laws viewed sex workers as an "evil" that seduced married men, contradicting the societal expectation that women should be chaste.

Feminist lawyer Yukiko Tsunoda noted that sex workers were not considered victims of violence against women at the time. The legal change is seen as long overdue for Nao, a Toka member who fled abuse by her mother and resorted to street prostitution to survive. Nao, now 25, recounted how middle-aged men approached her and offered around ¥5,000 (US$32) for sex daily as a young street worker.

Despite initially feeling that prostitution made her life worthwhile, Nao now recognizes that she was a victim of sexual exploitation.