NCJ Number
188218
Date Published
September 2000
Length
238 pages
Annotation
This book investigates the plight of Thai women trafficked into debt bondage in Japan.
Abstract
The trafficking of women from Thailand to Japan occurs within the context of large-scale regional migration in Asia, which has grown dramatically since the 1980's. This book is based on interviews with women who migrated from Thailand to Japan and advocates in Japan who are working on behalf of Thai women (including lawyers, shelter staff, hotline volunteers, medical professionals, and migrants' rights activists). It also includes interviews with Japanese government officials as well as officials from the Thai Embassy and Thai Labor Office in Japan, and governmental and nongovernmental representatives in Thailand who are involved in efforts to prevent trafficking in persons and to provide assistance to victims. While Thai women's initial decisions to migrate for work were almost always voluntary, the women were deceived from the time they made their decisions until their arrival in Japan. Most experienced slavery-like abuses, prohibited under international law, during the course of their travel and job placement. The book recommends actions for the Japanese and Thai governments as well as for other governments and international organizations that will bring to justice the perpetrators of these egregious violations of human rights and deter further abuses. Figure, notes, table