LOS ANGELES — The global War on Porn continues on a new front, as news outlet Mainichi Japan reports that government officials are facing accusations of discrimination with the denial of public aid to sex workers harmed by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
Following Japan’s school closures, its Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has declined compensation to sex workers who need time off to care for their children. Reports note the ministry determined the adult entertainment industry, which includes nightclubs and other establishments, is “unworthy of receiving public funds.”
Other workers will be compensated, either through their employer to underwrite the cost of extending paid leave, or directly to the self-employed.
“According to the ministry, those involved in the entertainment, restaurant and sex industries, alongside organized crime group members and organizations that have carried out or potentially will carry out terroristic and destructive activities, are ineligible for the public assistance,” the Mainichi article reports.
"Not just with this particular assistance program, but with all subsidy programs regarding employment, people in these types of occupations are ineligible," an unnamed labor ministry official disclosed. "We determined that it would be inappropriate to use public funds to subsidize even business operators who have obtained legal permission."
While sex work advocates have been critical of this discriminatory stance, and shed a public spotlight on its seriousness, labor minister Katsunobu Kato appears to be uninterested in revisiting the policy.
The Cabakura Union, which represents workers in Japan’s adult entertainment industry, and its parent organization, the Part-Timer, Arbeiter, Freeter & Foreign Worker Union, have protested the decision.
"Particularly in the service industry and among nighttime occupations," a union rep explained, "the slump in business will become even harsher. Without any compensation or benefits, all we can do is to wait for our lives to collapse."
The full article is available here.
