November 9, 2025

A women’s organization working to introduce a law which imposes a ban on the purchase of sexual services held an international symposium regarding this issue on November 8 in Tokyo.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councillors Kira Yoshiko took part in the symposium.

Professor in constitutional and gender law at Osaka Electro-Communication University Nakasatomi Hiroshi delivered a speech on behalf of the organizer, and stressed the need to establish a legal system prohibiting the buying of sexual services as well as to introducing measures to support women in the sex industry. Anti-sex trafficking experts from France and South Korea spoke as panelists.

Ex-French parliamentarian Maud Olivier talked about the French law criminalizing the purchase of sex which was enacted in 2016. She said that the law penalizes sex customers with heavy fines, but not sex providers. She continued to say that the law is designed to provide support for sex workers who wish to find a path out of the sex trade. The former French lawmaker stated that customer demand for commercial sex is the driving force behind sex trafficking, adding that it is necessary to nurture social awareness of recognizing women engaged in sex work as victims.

Lee Ha-young, co-head of the South Korean women’s organization fighting against sex trafficking, National Solidarity against Sexual Exploitation of Women, said that in the wake of the frequent occurrence of fatal brothel fires, more and more people have become aware of the government responsibility to eliminate such businesses, and public pressure helped to enact a law aimed at banning the sex trade.