Increased prostitution of women in need of living due to corona

In response to the increasing number of cases where women who are in need of living due to the influence of the new coronavirus are prostituted in downtown Tokyo, the Metropolitan Police Department is targeting women arrested from next month, apart from the crackdown. We have decided to assign a person in charge who specializes in support such as accompanying the consultation desk.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the number of women waiting for prostitution on the streets has increased rapidly since the fall, about half a year after the first emergency declaration in downtown areas such as Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.

Since it is prohibited by the Prostitution Prevention Law, it is subject to crackdowns, but the current situation is that there are many women who will stand on the street again even after being arrested due to poor living conditions.

Under these circumstances, the Metropolitan Police Department has decided to assign a new person in charge of supporting women arrested from next month to the Security Division, apart from the crackdown.

Specifically, after listening to the person's living conditions and wishes, the person in charge will accompany the counseling desk of the local government to support the rebuilding of life such as work and housing.

Many of the women arrested are unaware of the system such as welfare and hesitate to receive support, so the Metropolitan Police Department will surely connect to the consultation desk together with the crackdown to promote prostitution. I want to prevent it.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, it is the first time in the country that police have set up a post dedicated to supporting women who prostitute.

Covering the rapidly increasing crackdown on prostitution

NHK reported on the state of the crackdown conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo on the 22nd of this month.

This day was the day after the priority measures such as spread prevention that had been applied to 18 prefectures such as Tokyo were lifted, and many people such as office workers on the way home from work visited.

On the street near the park in Kabukicho, a woman who seems to be waiting for prostitutes with a smartphone in her hand has become conspicuous since 7 pm.

After that, I saw a man passing by and calling out to a woman one after another, and I was able to confirm that he was walking in the direction of the hotel area together.

Acts such as soliciting prostitution partners on the street are prohibited by the Prostitution Prevention Law and are subject to crackdowns.

On this day, the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the appearance of the women standing on the street, and then the investigator called out to one woman who had been standing for a long time.

Then, when he came near the hotel, he confirmed that the purpose was prostitution, and he was arrested on the spot and put on an investigation vehicle.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the number of women waiting for prostitutes on the streets of downtown has increased, especially since the fall, about half a year after the first state of emergency.

For this reason, we are strengthening crackdowns and guidance, but the current situation is that even if we are arrested for reasons such as poor living, there are many cases where we return to the street again, and some of them are "due to the spread of infection. Some women said, "I couldn't make a lot of money and started to stand on the street."

A person in charge of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Security Division said, "I feel that it is difficult to prevent prostitution on the street with conventional crackdowns alone, and in the future I would like to work on support that can be done as a police in cooperation with local governments." increase.

A woman who repeats prostitution "I can't think of the future because I'm full now"

A woman in her thirties, who has repeatedly prostituted in downtown Tokyo and received guidance from the Metropolitan Police Department, responded to NHK's interview.

Women have been standing on the streets of Shinjuku and Ikebukuro since the spring when the infection with the new coronavirus spread, waiting for prostitutes.

It is said that he has been waiting for customers from sunset to the time of the last train, and once he has earned a few days' worth of living expenses, he has stopped, and when he runs out of cash, he has continued to stand on the street again.

The woman was estranged from her family before she started prostitution and left her parents' house, so she said, "I often had trouble with where I stayed today, so it rained at that time. I've been waiting for customers all the time. "

However, last summer, when he was waiting for customers on the streets of Shinjuku, he was voluntarily asked by the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of violating the Prostitution Prevention Law and was instructed to stop prostitution.

At that time, a police officer handed me a document with an administrative consultation desk, but the woman did not visit the counter and has been standing on the street again since last fall.

She explained why she didn't visit the window, saying that the woman had never had a stable job before, she said, "I thought she would have done it if she could live in another job." increase.

He also said that he understood that prostitution violated the law and said, "I don't know if it's okay as it is, but I'm full now and I can't think of the future. It's different just because I have a place to live. So I thought it would be nice if there was support for renting a room. "

Expert "Strengthening cooperation between related organizations"

Regarding the new efforts of the Metropolitan Police Department, Professor Chizuru Hori of the Department of Welfare, Josai International University, who is familiar with issues such as women's poverty, said, "The life of women with a lot of non-regular employment due to corona is becoming more difficult. It can be appreciated that the police understand that women are seeking help, not the end of the crackdown and crackdown, and that they are working on it. "

On top of that, "The forms of support that women need are diverse, and it is difficult for the police alone to respond. We will strengthen cooperation between related organizations such as government and private support groups, and build a system that can surely lead to support. I'm expecting that. "