Kurumin Aroma felt like her life was over at just Fast forward eight years and Aroma looks back at the episode with crushing regret. But she is determined to weaponize the ensuing trauma to help stop others from becoming, like her, one of the hundreds of young Japanese women coerced into pornography by tricksters masquerading as legitimate modeling agents. The coercion of young women into pornography and prostitution has become an epidemic in Japan, where the fetishization of adolescence is disturbingly common and legal protections for children shockingly lax.
Ten years ago most of those she helped came from abroad, but today the bulk of cases that come before her charity comprise teenage runaways and abuse victims from Japan. Although officially illegal, Japan has a booming sex industry due to numerous loopholes. An estimated 5, teenagers earn cash this way. Most shockingly, child pornography, only made illegal in , remains rife. There are few laws to protect children. It offers food, coffee and counseling, as well as condoms, toothbrushes and feminine hygiene products, to girls who would rather hang out on the street than go home.
Read more: A Japanese tabloid apologized for ranking universities by how easily women are coaxed into sex. Last year, Japan had only 3, child welfare workers on the books, but , reported cases of child abuse. Other then being approached on the street, young people are commonly groomed online. Often, they are coaxed or coerced into sending nude or compromising photos of themselves to predators, whom then use that material to extort more sordid contacts, beginning a worsening spiral of abuse.
An estimated , junior high and high school girls are engaged in prostitution. Once snared, some actively solicit men online or attempt to earn money by selling nude photos or underwear. Once released onto the web, photos and videos are almost impossible to completely remove.
For a young person to have their molestation constantly shared in the public domain can be devastating. Many suffer for years and feel forced to quit jobs or college. Aroma spent years trying to expunge films of her abuse from the Internet. The agency she signed with closed down and her abusers are difficult to track down. While her immediate family has been supportive, she says some relatives have broken off all contact, unable to handle the shame. Fujiwara says international pressure is key to fixing the system.
