There has been a sharp increase in the number of damage consultations received by PAPS.
In December 2021, all staff members tweeted what they had been feeling for some time on PAPS' Twitter feed. The response was huge.
We asked journalists, “Please. It is important to cover women selling sex downtown, but please cover and report on the customers who buy sex. At home, they are husbands, fathers, and sons. These customers are “getting away with it” and forcing women to perform Nakadashi on them. Some of the pregnant women have given birth at a women's shelter in Tokyo” (posted Dec. 4, 2021).
This tweet received 6,586 likes and was quickly spread by people who sympathized and resonated with it. Why did this tweet generate such a huge response? It is because there is a huge bias in the reporting of sexual violence. There is an accumulation of reporting, investigation, and research that reveals the picture of victims. In contrast, the perpetrators are not revealed.
"What kind of man buys women's sex or plays with the women in the video?"
"What kind of man is a prostitute? What kind of men are the fathers of the daddies, the uncles with home lives?"
"What kind of men are porn users?”
Compared to the image of girls who engage in paparazzi, the image of men who buy does not come to mind. Information has always focused on girls and young women selling sex. The quality and quantity of information being disseminated is completely different. The severity of digital sex trafficking, which is rapidly expanding via the Internet, is eye-opening.
In January 2020, there were 19 consultations, but in the same month in 2021, there were 68 consultations, 3.5 times the number in the same month in 2021. 2021 will have over 500 consultations for the year. The overwhelming majority of victims are women, but the number of male victims consulted is also increasing. Men are also frightened by the fear that their young lives will be destroyed. Through the consultations we receive, we are beginning to get a glimpse of what victims are like. It is as if a weak link in society is being exploited.
When we consult with the victims, we focus on what they want to talk about. Many people say things like, “Why did I decide to perform in adult films?” But I do not ask about family relationships, work history, educational background, or financial situation unless necessary. Sometimes, we gradually learn more and more over the course of six months, a year, or several years of involvement.
At the root of the problem is the poverty of young people. There is no end to the number of women who, unable to make ends meet, have turned to adult entertainment and pornography. They say, “I have nowhere to belong,” “I don't think I am important,” “I have become desperate,” and so on. Where do these women's difficulties in life come from? Not only economic poverty, but also poverty in family relationships and human relations are apparent.
Even as we write this, it is the women who are bought that we can depict with reality. To the contrary, we cannot see the side of buyers, the side of demand. It is a major social issue to uncover this reality. When talking about women who sell sex, we should always think about the buyer's side of the equation.
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