“With Olympics on way, activist group's next campaign targets human trafficking in Tokyo”, 23 June 2019

As the next Olympic host, Japan has become the focus of a global campaign against child prostitution and exploitation linked to sports, with activists working to shed light on “hidden crimes” they say have a symbiotic relationship with mega-events. Major sporting events attract troves of tourists to host cities, and it is believed criminal organizations follow, looking to cash in by exploiting vulnerable children pushed into the sex trade or by trafficking them into forced labor.

Despite its reputation for safety and high living standards, Japan is far from immune, according to It’s a Penalty, a Britain-based activist group. “It does exist here, it is just that it is not talked about,” said Sarah de Carvalho, founder and CEO of IAP, during a recent visit to Tokyo. “If you educate people who are attending the event about the signs to look out for, and that’s labor as well as sexual exploitation, it is happening everywhere. But unless we talk about it we think it is not happening.”…

According to the United Nations-backed International Labor Organization, there are 24.9 million people who are victims of forced labor, nearly a quarter of whom are children…

De Carvalho said during her visit to Japan last month to meet 2020 organizers that crimes against children are a major issue for Japan and that action must be taken. IAP has so far facilitated the rescue of more than 16,800 victims by partnering with police, airlines, sporting bodies and nongovernment organizations during sporting events, including soccer’s 2014 World Cup, 2016 Rio Olympics and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. IAP also works with the International Olympic Committee, which has pledged its support…