Author: Kerry Hammond

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Courtesy warosu.org

In Tokyo, Japan behind the cute costumes and happy smiles of maid cafes is a disturbing reality for many young employees. The lucrative Joshi Kosei business also known as JK has become yet another form of child-prostitution and human trafficking that many high school age maid-cafe employees are being tricked into by their employers.

Joshi Kosei is a paid service for customers that often operates along side these well known tourist destinations. This service, although claimed to be harmless by owners, has been known to be a perpetrator of child-prostitution as well as a violator of human rights and trafficking laws. JK is usually purchased by older Japanese men and foreigners. It is advertised as “pleasant walks & chats with high school girls”. But a normal work-day of JK is anything but pleasant for many of the young women involved. Forced sexual favors can be purchased by customers as “secret menu items” at any time during their walks which includes taking inappropriate photos, kissing and even taking the girls to love hotels.

“A famous case where one of the operators of such business was prosecuted occurred in October 2017, when Yutaka Tanaka was arrested for allegedly employing a 17-year-old girl to walk with older men and making her have sex with a 45-year-old customer. Tanaka would only pay the girls for their hourly walks with older men if they agreed to offer extra services, many of which were sexual.” 

Article: “Child Prostitution?! In Japan?!”

Although shocking and taboo, Joshi Kosei work is unfortunately on the rise. Many young women in Japan are drawn to the work through it’s promise of economic fortune. Young & naive high schoolers, runaways, the mentally ill and the financially downtrodden are the four most common victims of this form of trafficking. A majority of whom are not of age or aware of what they are getting into. From a social standpoint, when young women get involved in JK they are often blamed for any of the sexual abuse experienced on the job, even at a young age.

“Unfortunately the underlying problem is that these girls are blamed for selling themselves. Most of these girls have experienced isolation at home or school before they reach that point (of JK prostitution). The Japanese government tries to solve this problem by cracking down on the girls themselves. But this problem won’t be solved until the adults who buy and sell disappear.”

Yumeno Nito in “Schoolgirls For Sale In Japan”

I wanted to address this problem for a few reasons. Since I am planning on taking a trip to Tokyo in July I wanted to take an active role in learning about the country I’m traveling to. As a popular tourist spot in Japan, maid cafes are often overlooked. Most are seen as fun and harmless places to visit and many tourists don’t question how these girls are treated. I had heard of this issue before but had never delved deeper into it and wanted to learn more. I was also generally interested in the topic of child rights and human trafficking. I was curious how other countries experience and deal with this difficult situation especially since the problem is so prevalent here in the United States. Yet when looking through Amnesty International’s (Japan) website I noticed that this faulty contract based human trafficking wasn’t really mentioned despite it’s prevalence in Japanese Society. By writing and informing myself about this topic I hope that I can reach an audience of potential Tokyo travelers and help others understand the realities of Joshi Kosei cafe girls.

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There of Four types of young women who work and ultimately become victims of the JK industry. The first is the runaway who usually comes from abusive households. Runaways are often coerced into the industry via male employers who offer them housing, nice gifts or promises of money to get them off the street. The second is girls who come from poor families who are hoping to make better wages to support their siblings or parents by any means possible. Third is girls who come from stable families and fall into the business by replying to false advertisements on the internet. These girls often end up signing faulty and exploitative contracts which put them at risk to be taken advantage of by their customers and employers. Finally, Joshi Kosei employers target girls with low self esteem and mental illness that have no social support network.

“I was so depressed at the time that I didn’t mind (being raped) if that’s what a guy needed me for… And if sex was all it took to make me stop feeling so worthless, I thought I was game for anything.”

Momo, “Notorious ‘JK’ business exploits troubled high school girls for sex”

Recently, a new law has been past forbidding girls under 17 from working in JK cafes and police have attempted to crack down on many of the Akihabara cafes. There have also been attempts at educating girls at local middle and high schools about the dangers of this type of work, yet this has been to no avail. In the article: Tokyo’s new ‘JK’ ordinance takes aim at schoolgirl exploitation, one metropolitan police official stated: “After the enforcement, there will still be high school girls out there who are going to want to earn pocket money, and the men who target these girls won’t disappear, either”. 

Joshi Kosei as a sex trafficking and child prostitution ring is a large barrier to sustainable development goals in Japan. Particularly goal five: achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls. As a business mostly run by men for men that not only deliberately targets and exploits young women at their most vulnerable it is hard to argue how these types of companies can be considered harmless or should be allowed to exist at all. JK cafes and businesses that sexually exploit Japanese women are direct barriers to many of goal fives target achievements including ” Eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation “, and ” Ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life”. Although JK owners are now being cracked down on by Japanese police, it is still not enough. Many shops still remain open and have thriving businesses. For the cafes that get caught soliciting underage sex, JK employers only face up to a year in prison or an 8000 dollar fine.

From a human rights perspective this issue is highly controversial. In the context of Japanese cultural relativism JK cafes and services has been a part of the street of Akihabara for 20+ years. To the citizens of Tokyo, Japan where the age of legal consent is only 13 years old many don’t even bat an eye at the rows of young girls dressed in shorts and stockings and high school uniforms. In terms of the workers themselves, although exploited, some argue that this is the only way they can make a decent living wage in a country where cost of living is so high. One JK employee put it simply herself:

“The pay is totally different (in Joshi Kosei). You have to be an idiot to work in a regular job,” 

Tokyo’s new ‘JK’ ordinance takes aim at schoolgirl exploitation

Yet on this issue, the cultural relativist argument lacks on one front. As a member of the UN Japan has previously agreed to uphold universal human rights within it’s own country. This includes forbidding and cracking down on child prostitution, human trafficking as well as businesses or institutions that deliberately exploit women of all ages. It’s unfortunately unsurprising that many JK girls are targeted for being isolated and having low self esteem. If the place you grew up didn’t respect your basic human rights, how could you begin to feel respect for yourself? With practices like Joshi Kosei still thriving on the web and in the streets, universalists only ask that Japan keep it’s promises not only for the UN but for all Japanese women.

Works Cited:

“Child Prostitution?!? In Japan?!?! – Japan Info.” Japan Info, 31 Jan. 2019, jpninfo.com/174121.

“Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.” United Nations, United Nations, http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/.

“Japan.” Japan | Amnesty International, http://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/japan/.

Kuroki, Kazuma, and Yusuke Iwahashi. “Tokyo’s New ‘JK’ Ordinance Takes Aim at Schoolgirl Exploitation.” The Japan Times, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/06/national/crime-legal/tokyos-new-jk-ordinance-takes-aim-schoolgirl-exploitation/#.XPPqgBZlCEc.

Osaki, Tomohiro. “Notorious ‘JK’ Business Exploits Troubled High School Girls for Sex.” The Japan Times, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/04/national/social-issues/notorious-jk-business-exploits-troubled-high-school-girls-sex/.

“The JK Business: Documentary Examines the Japanese Schoolgirl Industry.” SoraNews24, 17 May 2016, soranews24.com/2015/07/28/the-jk-business-new-documentary-examines-the-japanese-schoolgirl-industry/.

Arab Women and the Workforce

Middle-Eastern women have left their homes behind and entered the office spaces of modern Islamic societies. This shift in the labor force of places like United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey has been slowly growing over the last 15 to 20 years. Recent advancements in the economy as well as women’s education and the right to drive vehicles has lead to an recent revelation to many in the western world:

Middle-class women in today’s MENA countries now face some of the same issues of working women in the west.

I chose this topic after being inspired by the articles: “The Feminization of Migration: Why are Women Moving More”, “Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy”, and “Radical change’ needed on unpaid care work, report finds”.

After learning about the migrating women of the Global South, I became curious about the Arab world and many questions swirled in my mind: where did the Middle-East stand in terms of care work? Were men feeling displaced just as they were in India, parts of Africa and the Philippines? Do we see the same care-deficit within the middle-east that we do in the rest of the world?

The answer was a resounding yes. Nonetheless, despite the advances for gender equity, there remains even more obstacles: the wage gap and advantageous hiring as well as a cultural demand for Arab women to be good workers and better mothers. New problems arise with working women, leading to a similar issue of the Global North: “the second shift”.

The Muslim ‘Supermom’: A Woman’s Growing Role in Today’s Arab World

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZkdonO_JQM

Much like western society, Middle-eastern women experience inequity when it comes to house-hold care. Cultural practice in Arab societies puts most if not all child-care duties on the mother. Traditional gender roles place the husband as the breadwinner and wife as the home-maker. However, with the Arab millennial generation that began to change. 

Today women in Arab countries make up the majority of University students, and over 50 million women have entered the workforce since the year 2000.  

With such a rapid growth in little time, this left a gap in the equal demand for parenting. With cultural ideologies moving at a comparably slower rate many Arab women have turned to hiring and ultimately taking advantage of migrant care workers in order to keep their full time careers. Thus a similar problem was created to the issues faced by the transnational care workers in the article: “The Feminization of Migration: Why are Women Moving More”. 

Migrant workers to middle-eastern families travel predominantly from South-East Asia, Africa, Sri-Lanka, and India. They are driven by better wages than there native countries but do not usually receive a better life. Many migrant care workers experience daily abuse, are overburdened with house duties and financially exploited.

“If I had gone back home at the first sign of trouble, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish any of this,” attests Lakshmi, “I stayed because I knew it was my one opportunity to create a better future for my family.”       

 – Across Oceans: The Lives of Migrant Workers in the Middle East.

Delving into the transnational care issue from a Arab perspective has highlighted certain similarities and differences from the Western world to the Middle-East. For one, it has made it more evident that both societies experience problems with “Second shift” care as a result of patriarchal and cultural pressure. If both regions were able to mobilize progressive social pressure for gender equity as well better childcare policy we would see a more positive shift for working women across the globe. As a contrast, MENA countries benefit from an education perspective. Higher rates of women’s education have bolstered both social and economic mobility for a lot of Arab woman  Some western countries lack this quality. However, because of more supportive childcare and gender equity laws than MENA nations, western women are able to mobilize in other ways. Many Arab women still remain burdened and under supported due to more blatant cultural and political misogyny.  This leaves Arab women even more pressured to not only succeed in their careers but in their family life as well. According to pew research center the Middle-East’s migrant population has more than doubled since 2005 and between political conflict and this increase in women’s economic opportunity, it’s not hard to see why.

Underpaid and Underemployed

Although MENA countries have made great progress in gender equity, there is still a long way to go. Despite the fact that middle-eastern women in particular are the most educated and outperform their male peers in both math and science they are still less valued because of their gender.  As traditional patriarchal societies, these nations see men as better potential employees. This has left women in the Middle-East vastly underemployed compared to the rest of the world. According to the “Global Gender Gap Report (2015)”:

13 of of the 15 countries with the lowest rates of women participating in their labor force are in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Not only is this due to culturally ingrained misogyny in the workforce  it also stems from a general lack of support from family, non-existent maternity leave, over-whelming reproductive care costs as well as a large issue of sexual-harassment in the work place. 

Yet, not all hope is lost. In Iran, anonymous Journalists and activists have made waves with their support of feminist movements such as “Me Too”. Sexual assault is a topic so taboo in Arab countries that even it’s open discussion could lead to death threats. These anonymous trailblazers have helped many Arab women open up about sexual harassment, assault and misogyny in their societies.

 Hear the full podcast from NPR here.

All of these issues make an unfriendly working environment for Arab women. Though one particularly bad statistic is the Middle-East’s gender wage gap. According to “Despite high education levels, Arab women still don’t have jobs” and An article by The National:

Currently only Morocco and Djibouti Have laws dictating equal pay for equal work and some estimates put the average MENA gender wage gap from 20 to 40%.

Women all around the world experience gender-inequity in the workforce. After taking a step back on this issue, it’s easy to wonder: what can be done? Between the struggles of migrant care workers, mobilized Arab women, and upper-class workers in the Global north certain key issues have become all encompassing. Childcare, family neglect, and financial exploitation impact women everywhere. In today’s world, working women and men are finding themselves at the gendered crossroads. Do they play into societies roles or break the wheel all together? For women in MENA countries it has become increasingly more complex. In order for women to win the fight for equity not only in Arab countries, but in the textile factories of South-East Asia, the surrogacy wards of India as well as the offices of the western societies, they must take a stand and show the world what a “superwoman” truly is.

Take Aways:

Arab women have experienced a recent shift in their traditional roles within the societies of MENA. Although much progress has been made in terms of women’s education, rights as well as their capacity to join the workforce, there is still much to be done. With new problems of a changing economy such as: second shift parenting and the exploitation of migrant workers, sexual harassment, misogyny, and lack of maternal leave in the workplace and finally the ever present gender wage gap. Arab women are learning what it means to be “super” in a modern society. Activists and journalists have taken it upon themselves to try and make the workforce more aware and “lady-friendly” but until political action is taken by MENA governments women in the Arab world will remain underpaid, largely unemployed, and “lesser” to their male counterparts.

Works Cited:

Arnold, Tom. “Gender Pay Gap in Middle East between 20-40%.” The National, The National, 24 May 2013, http://www.thenational.ae/business/gender-pay-gap-in-middle-east-between-20-40-1.317728.

El-Swais, Maha. “Despite High Education Levels, Arab Women Still Don’t Have Jobs.” Voices and Views: Middle East and North Africa, 9 Mar. 2016, blogs.worldbank.org/arabvoices/despite-high-education-levels-arab-women-still-don-t-have-jobs.

Jaradat, Ruba. “Why the Arab World Needs a Care Work Revolution.” Women’s Advancement, News Deeply, 9 Mar. 2018, http://www.newsdeeply.com/womensadvancement/community/2018/03/08/why-the-arab-world-needs-a-care-work-revolution.

Kenyon, Peter. “Iranian Women Are Still Trying To Make Their Voices Heard In #MeToo Movement.” NPR, NPR, 22 Jan. 2019, http://www.npr.org/2019/01/22/687527818/iranian-women-are-still-trying-to-make-their-voices-heard-in-metoo-movement.

“Middle East’s Migrant Population More Than Doubles Since 2005.” Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, 4 June 2018, http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/10/18/middle-easts-migrant-population-more-than-doubles-since-2005/.

Zahidi, Saadia, et al. “Working Muslim Women Are a Trillion-Dollar Market.” World Economic Forum, 3 May 2018, http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/05/muslim-women-trillion-dollar-market-saadia-zahidi/.