Japan’s multibillion-dollar pornographic industry has issued a formal apology and promised change in response to allegations that women have been forced to perform sex acts on film against their will.
The move comes after the arrest this month of three talent scouts accused of coercing a woman to perform in more than 100 pornographic films over several years.
While the high-profile case sparked the industry’s response, campaigners say the practice is more widespread.
The Intellectual Property Promotion Association (IPPA), which represents Japan’s adult film industry, on Wednesday said in a statement it will “encourage producers to take action to quickly improve the situation and restore the soundness of the entire industry.”
“The association deeply regrets that we had failed to take initiative [to deal with problem before]. We are very sorry,” it said.
This month, police arrested the three men, including a 49-year-old executive at Tokyo-based agency Marks Japan, on suspicion of violating the country’s labor laws.
The talent agency pressed the victim to perform in adult videos by allegedly warning her that she had to pay penalties for breach of contract if she refused, local media have reported.
The unnamed woman thought she was going to be working as a model, media said.
Pornography is widely available in Japan, but the dark side of the industry is seldom discussed openly and the rights of those who work in it even less so.
In an attempt to shine a light on abusive aspects of the business, a coalition of campaigners and attorneys has urged authorities to crack down on sexual mistreatment.
Activists point to abuses including coercive or fraudulent signing of contracts — sometimes targeting minors.
Some actresses have said they were forced to engage in repeated intercourse without protection and even being gang-raped during filming.
Human Rights Now, a Tokyo-based campaign group, said the number of women seeking counseling over industry abuses jumped more than 80 percent last year from 2014.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
STILL AFLOAT: Satellite images show that a Chinese ship damaged in a collision earlier this month was under repair on Hainan, but Beijing has not commented on the incident Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships. The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years. Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they
POWER CONFLICT: The US president threatened to deploy National Guards in Baltimore. US media reports said he is also planning to station troops in Chicago US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to deploy National Guard troops to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as he seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican’s latest online rant about an “out of control, crime-ridden” city comes as Democratic state leaders — including Maryland Governor Wes Moore — line up to berate Trump on a high-profile political stage. Trump this month deployed the National Guard to the streets of Washington, in a widely criticized show of force the president said amounts to a federal takeover of US capital policing. The Guard began carrying
Ukrainian drone attacks overnight on several Russian power and energy facilities forced capacity reduction at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and set a fuel export terminal in Ust-Luga on fire, Russian officials said yesterday. A drone attack on the Kursk nuclear plant, not far from the border with Ukraine, damaged an auxiliary transformer and led to 50 percent reduction in the operating capacity at unit three of the plant, the plant’s press service said. There were no injuries and a fire sparked by the attack was promptly extinguished, the plant said. Radiation levels at the site and in the surrounding
RSS