VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKO #1758/01 1100655
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200655Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2872

UNCLAS TOKYO 001758 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PREL KCRM SMIG JA
SUBJECT: EMBASSY TOKYO-RECEIVED PROPOSALS FOR G/TIP FUNDING 
 
REF: STATE 028143 
 
¶1.  Following are the summaries of two anti-TIP proposals 
solicited per reftel.  The full proposals have been emailed 
to G/TIP Programs Coordinator Rebecca Billings via 
unclassified email. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
¶2.  Organization Name: Polaris Project (Shihoko Fujiwara) 
-Requested amount: USD 193,663 
-Non-federal funding: USD 198,335 (From Polaris Project) 
-Total budget: USD 391,998 
-Project Title: Japan Trafficking Intervention Program (JTIP) 
-Project Duration: 1 year 
-Proposal Abstract: 
 
"Japan has one of the most pressing human trafficking 
problems in the world today that warrants urgent 
international alarm. The impending crisis of human 
trafficking in Japan is the result of numerous contributing 
factors including Japan's massive commercial sex industry of 
staggering proportions and close ties with international 
organized crime; Japan's powerful industrialized economy that 
attracts scores of vulnerable migrants from all over the 
world; entrenched cultural practices and unchecked demand for 
commercial sex; and a notably underdeveloped response to 
combat human trafficking in the areas of prevention, 
protection, and prosecution despite the widespread false 
assumption that the sophistication of Japan's economy must 
naturally correlate with a well-developed civil sector and 
counter-trafficking response. 
 
With essential support from the U.S. Department of State, 
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Polaris 
Project's Japan office has been working on-the-ground in 
Japan for the past three years since Fall 2004 and has the 
unique perspective of experiencing the harsh reality of 
Japan's skeletal and underwhelming response to human 
trafficking. As one of the only non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) in Japan exclusively dedicated to 
combating trafficking, our Japan office reports that much 
more international support is needed to continue to lay the 
foundation for a nascent counter-trafficking response in 
Japan. 
 
The need for such support comes at a crucial time when 
Japan's initial minor attempts to fight human trafficking 
have led to extremely low victim identification rates, a lack 
of availability of social services for victims, non-existent 
public-private partnerships to fight trafficking, low levels 
of law enforcement training to operate in a victim-centered 
manner, low public awareness levels, and few prosecutions in 
the face of an ever-increasing pool of both domestic and 
transnational victims that presents traffickers with an 
alluring combination of high profits with very low risk of 
law enforcement intervention or deterrence. 
 
Polaris Project is currently requesting funding to develop 
the Japan Trafficking Intervention Program (JTIP), a 
comprehensive victim outreach and services program to combat 
trafficking in persons in the Tokyo Metropolitan region. The 
JTIP program directly builds off Polaris Project's previous 
U.S. State Department-funded program, entitled the Japan 
Campaign Against Trafficking (JCAT). JTIP will represent one 
of the only NGO anti-trafficking initiatives in Japan that is 
proactively working to identify victims through direct 
outreach activities. JTIP's population served will span 
victims of all forms of trafficking in persons, including 
victims of both sex trafficking and labor trafficking, and 
victims who are either foreign nationals or Japanese 
citizens. JTIP's comprehensive approach will include 
prevention initiatives aimed towards at-risk youth, direct 
and community outreach efforts to identify victims, public 
awareness-raising activities, crisis intervention through 
anti-trafficking hotlines, victim services and shelter for 
victims identified, community mobilization, and collaboration 
with law enforcement and government agencies. Expected 
results include an increase in outlets for victim's to seek 
help, increases in victims identified and served, and a 
growing counter-trafficking response in Japan that includes 
stronger partnerships with government and community members." 
 
¶3.  Organization Name: The Asia Foundation (Keiko Tamai) 
-Requested amount: USD 246,491 
-Non-federal funding: N/A 
-Total budget: USD 246,491 
-Project Title: Strengthening Victim Protection and 
Increasing Prosecutions in Japan" 
-Project Duration: 1.5 years 
-Proposal Abstract: 
 
"The Asia Foundation proposes to implement an 18-month 
$246,491 anti-trafficking program to improve victim 
protection and strengthen prosecutions of traffickers in 
Japan.  Japan remains a major human trafficking destination, 
particularly for women drawn into commercial sexual 
exploitation.  While the Japanese Government has improved its 
efforts to combat trafficking in recent years, serious gaps 
remain with regard to victim protection and prosecution.  The 
proposed program will improve the quality of victim care 
provided in government-run shelters, promote cooperation and 
coordination between government and nongovernmental service 
providers, and increase the availability of pro bono legal 
counsel to trafficking victims. 
 
A comprehensive set of six activities will train government 
shelter workers in higher standards of victim care and 
provide exposure to international best practices; provide 
materials to facilitate communication with foreign victims; 
create tools to enhance services available at shelters by 
expanding government and nongovernmental cooperation; and 
develop materials and train pro bono lawyer networks to 
provide quality legal services to trafficking victims. 
Expected program results include:  improved care for 
trafficking victims in government shelters; improved 
coordination of victim referrals, both within government and 
with civil society organizations; stronger prosecutions, as 
more victims are willing to testify against their 
traffickers; and greater access to justice for trafficking 
victims." 
SCHIEFFER