TOKYO — Japan has reportedly reversed its decision to discriminate against sex workers who are economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a Tuesday press conference, CNN reports, Health and Labor Minister Kazunobu Kato declared that Japan’s legal sex workers will be eligible to receive government assistance as part of the nation’s economic relief package.
Japan’s original COVID-19 relief plan barred sex workers, along with bars, restaurants and gangsters, from receiving any economic aid and was widely criticized for being discriminatory in its application.
The aid package will reportedly provide a daily subsidy of 8,330 yen (~$76) to businesses for employees who miss work because their children are out of school.
It is unclear how self-employed sex workers would be treated under the new plan.
