SWASH - Sex Worker and Sexual Health - are a group based in Japan who aim to improve the health and safety of sex workers. Its members give lectures at universities and symposiums, write publications and educate the general public about the human rights of sex workers.
What is the history of the organisation? How and why was it formed?
SWASH was established in 1999. SWASH is a group aiming to improve the health and safety of sex workers, and consists of those who themselves are working in the sex industry.
Which countries and/or regions do you work in?
Osaka and Tokyo in Japan.
What is the sex work context in your country/region?
The sex industry in Japan is generally divided into the intercourse category and the non-intercourse category. Since sex work accompanying intercourse was officially prohibited when the Anti-Prostitution Law was enacted in 1956, the non-intercourse part of the industry has dramatically developed. While there is no accurate data, at least the majority of Japanese sex workers are estimated to be involved in the non-intercourse category, among which "delivery Health" is the most popular form. However, most forms of the non-intercourse category, which emerged in the loophole of the Anti-Prostitution Law, have become subjects of police control because of the amendments of the Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement and Entertainment Business.
Also in most cases, managers or owners and clients have the power to decide whether sex workers use condoms or not in oral sex. In our research, 60-70% of sex workers want to use condoms in oral sex. But this fact is ignored because no organisation works for sex workers on labour issue other than our group.
What are the priority areas that your organisation works in?
A serious problem for sex workers in Japan is that the punishment of customers is presently being studied at government level. This is because in recent years organisations of counselling and assistance for women in need have been lobbying the government.
Transgender sex workers are also more vulnerable than female sex workers. In our research, many transgender sex workers have suffered violence from customers. The rate of violence is two times higher than female sex workers and they are predisposed to becoming isolated. So it is difficult to spread needed information.
Foreign sex workers are also more vulnerable than Japanese sex workers because it is illegal.
Do you provide services to sex workers? What kind?
1.Educational Goods for Sex Workers Distribution and PR
2.Educational Outreach Project
3.Hotline
4.Peer Education Skill Share
Do you do political work, or campaigns? What kind?
In 2020, due to Covid-19, a lot of work and the lives of sex workers were affected, like many other countries. In Japan sex workers are also excluded from social welfare, so we at SWASH have assisted many cases and have lobbied against the elimination of sex workers. Accordingly Japan’s government changed a part of benefit about policy for sex workers.
How are sex workers meaningfully included in the organisation?
We ask sex workers who want to be members to communicate with each other and participate in our events and build up trustful relations. SWASH is a group that consists of those who themselves are working in the sex industry.
Tell us about a big event or challenge you have worked on recently. For example, a campaign, a big event you worked on, etc. How did it go? What were the challenges?
We created new website for sex workers.
https://akaikasa.net/
This site has been opened as an information site for sex workers to work safely and securely. We hope that the site can provide useful information as an information site for sex workers by active sex workers and former sex workers.
What challenges does your organisation face in the future?
We are going to try having meeting with some politician and bureaucrats.
Does the organisation have a message for the sex worker rights movement? What about for people outside of the movement?
Police and customer education becomes possible by the decriminalisation of sex work and/or the change of social attitudes against sex work. We have to eliminate discrimination against sex work in society.