Japanese government subsidy once again excludes custom industries, public lawsuit "subsidy for sex workers" lost at first instance

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Japanese government has provided various subsidies, hoping to allow small and medium-sized enterprises and ordinary people to temporarily get through the crisis and make them more comfortable. However, almost all kinds of subsidies refuse to provide subsidies for sex industry operators on the grounds that public sector subsidies are not suitable for sex industry.

For example, this site has previously written "[Wuhan Pneumonia in Japan] Nightlife may become a breach of epidemic prevention? The subsidy is only not given to the underworld and the custom industry . The article tells that the "Parents and Children at Home" subsidy provided by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare excludes nightlife (hotels, Cowherd shops and other customer service industries, sex industry) and violent groups (aka underworld). ). However, this example has finally been revised to allow parents who work in the sex industry to apply for subsidies.

The subsidy is eligible for re-excluded custom businesses

Even so, the subsidies provided by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to businesses affected by the epidemic ("Holding Benefit" and "Household Rental Support Benefit") still exclude customary industries, and are especially aimed at those who comply with the commonly known "Customs Law". The "Regulation of Customs and Businesses, etc., and the Regulation of Customs and Businesses, etc.", and the legal business that has confirmed the declaration. Such as love hotels (Motie), bubble baths, and non-store-type custom shop operators commonly known as "デリヘル (*)", all belong to the sex custom business operators who must abide by the "Traditional Law", so there is no way to apply for these types. to the subsidy.

＊デリヘル is an abbreviation for "デリバリーヘルス (delivery health)". Users and customers can call a lady or a gentleman to a designated place (for example: a hotel room) by contacting the operator, so it is also called a dispatch type.

That is to say, sex business operators who abide by the law and make declarations cannot apply for subsidies. This is actually a disguised act of promoting legal operators to go underground. "You can still get subsidies without declaring."

By the way, the subsidy launched by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is aimed at "business owners", so business owners can't get the money, but the girls, cowboys, staff, etc. who work under them are not "business owners", so they can still apply for other subsidy, unless they take the case on their own.

For details and examples of this part, please refer to the second part of the old article " [Comments・Wuhan Pneumonia in Japan] Epidemic news reports should not target specific groups "

Formal filing in September 2020

In view of this, in September 2020, a non-store-type custom shop operator operating "デリヘル" in the Kansai region of Japan filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court for "subsidy for sex workers (セックスワークにも Payment money)". Advocating that the government should not discriminate based on the occupation of citizens, which violates the equality under the law guaranteed by the Constitution, seeks 4.46 million yen from the state.

Defeat at first instance

This Thursday (6/30), the Tokyo District Court's decision was released. Judge Okada Yukto believed that the sex industry violated the moral values of the people, and it was reasonable for the government to exclude the sex industry from the subsidy. However, the judge also emphasized that everyone's career choice must be respected, and the freedom of life of the parties should not be discriminated against because of personal occupation.

At present, the plaintiff has filed an appeal on the day of the verdict and is ready to fight for a long time.

Changyo Yoshizaki, a professor of constitutional law at Chang Ye University, pointed out that when the government introduced the "sustainable payment", then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated in the Diet that the subsidy would be "expanded regardless of the type of industry", but it was deliberately excluded in practice. The sexual custom industry has deepened the negative impression of the society on the sexual custom industry. The result of this constitutional judgment is unreasonable.

The fundraising campaign for the public lawsuit and the full progress of the lawsuit are now available on CALL4's website, and those who are interested can click here .

This article was simultaneously published in the Japanese current affairs まとめ translation of Kaori Ishikawa .