A Critical Approach to Human Trafficking in Japan: Rethinking Sex Trafficking Policy Through the Examples of Filipino Migrant Entertainers By © 2019 Marlaena Gridley B.A., Kansas State University, 2017
Submitted to the graduate degree program in East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
Chair: Akiko Takeyama
Ayako Mizumura
Elaine Gerbert
Date Defended: 03 May 2019
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The thesis committee for Marlaena Gridley certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis:
A Critical Approach to Human Trafficking in Japan: Rethinking Sex Trafficking Policy Through the Examples of Filipino Migrant Entertainers
Chair: Akiko Takeyama
Date Approved: 10 June 2019 iii
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the problematic relationship between the carceral state and carceral feminism, which are U.S. centered, and its effects on human trafficking and sex work in Japan. I utilize academic research on the carceral state, government publications, and previous scholarly fieldwork involving Filipino migrants’ experiences in Japan. Critical scholarship on anti-human trafficking policies and discourses has problematized the relationship between feminists and the carceral state leading to what Elizabeth Bernstein calls “carceral feminism”. This relationship, which focuses on criminal justice and punitive policies, impacts both the U.S. Department of
State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report and contemporary human trafficking activism across countries.
While critical scholarship on anti-human trafficking and carceral feminism problematized its negative impact on migrant workers, their discussions focus on theoretical levels. As a result, individual experiences and voices of migrant workers are not thoroughly integrated into the discussion. By employing the existing ethnographic research on Filipino migrant entertainers and their lived experiences, this thesis therefore sheds light on the lived experiences of individuals to rethink top-down carceral feminism while also filling the gap between the abstract critique and the lack of empirical studies of individual migrants’ experiences. The goal of this study is threefold: 1) to understand the development of current sex trafficking policy and Japan’s contemporary understanding of human trafficking, 2) to reveal how policies affect individuals in the sex work industry, and 3) to begin a discussion that promotes a dialogue that is led by migrants and provides a greater understanding of their complicated experiences.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the Chair of my committee, Dr. Akiko Takeyama, for helping me put together this research project and being a fantastic advisor. I would also like to the other members of my committee, Dr. Elaine Gerbert and Dr. Ayako Mizumura, for their support and help with my thesis. I would like to thank the East Asian Languages and Cultures Department at KU as well as all faculty members. And, I give special thanks to Dr. Antoinette C. Egitto, for her immense help and always giving me the best writing pep-talks.
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Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review ...... 6 2.1 Macro Analysis – Carceral State and Feminism ...... 9 2.2 Micro Analysis – Filipino Migrant Workers ...... 13 Chapter 3: Methodology ...... 17 3.1 Archival Research ...... 18 3.2 Media Representation ...... 20 3.3 Existing Scholarly Research ...... 20 Chapter 4: Legislative and Policy Context ...... 21 4.1 Early Legislative Outside Influence ...... 22 4.2 Current-Day Policy ...... 25 4.3 Public Perception of Slavery in U.S. vs. Japan ...... 28 4.4 International and Media Context ...... 30 4.5 Contemporary Human Trafficking and the Carceral State ...... 32 4.6 U.S. Approach – “Three Rs” and “T