SEX AND THE MORAL BOUNDARIES OF FILIPINA MIGRANT HOSTESSES IN JAPAN

RHACEL PARREÑASAMERICAN CIVILIZATION AND SOCIOLOGY

BROWN UNIVERSITY

Cultures of Flirtation

U.S. TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

“On arrival at their destination, victims are stripped of their passports and travel documents and forced into situations of sexual exploitation or bonded servitude….For example, it is reported that Japan issued 55,000 entertainer visas to women from the Philippines in 2003, many of whom are suspected of having become trafficked victims.” U.S. Department of State, (2004: 14)

U.S. TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

“A significant number of the 71, 084 Philippine women who entered Japan as overseas performance artists in 2004 are believed to have been women trafficked into the sex trade.” U.S. Department of State, (2005: 178).

MORAL GROUPINGS OF HOSTESSES

Moral conservativesMoral rationalistsMoral in-betweeners

METHODS

Fieldwork: April to November 2005Participant Observation (three months of

work as a hostess)Interviews with 56 hostesses (45 females and

11 transgender)Supplementary interviews with club owners,

middleman brokers and state representatives in Japan and the Philippines.

WHY FILIPINO HOSTESSES?

Historically composed approximately 60 percent of foreign hostesses in Japan (Oishi, 2005)

Drastic decline in numbers since labeling as “trafficked persons” by U.S. Department of State 80,000 in 2004 to 35,000 in 2005 to 10,000 in 2006

HOSTESS WORK

HOSTESS WORK

Care WorkSexual WorkEntertainment WorkBoundary Work

MORAL CONSERVATIVES

Rejects direct purchase of sexHides nature of work (i.e., flirtation) from

family and friends in the PhilippinesConsciously desexualizes interactions with

customersFirst timers or born-again Christians

MORAL RATIONALISTS

Willingly participates in commercial sexual exchanges

More likely to “cross the line” inside and not outside the club

Rejects the notion that emotions are a prerequisite to morally acceptable sexual relations

MORAL IN-BETWEENERS

Dominant group in communityUses sexuality overtly with customersRejects the direct purchase of sexParticipates in the indirect purchase of sexExchanges sex for money indirectly only with

“boyfriends”

MORAL REGIMES OF WORKPLACE

Moral conservative clubMoral rationalist clubMoral in-betweener club

EMPLOYMENT STATUS

Contract WorkerUndocumented WorkerDocumented Worker: Wife or Mother

SITUATIONS OF TRAFFICKING

Trafficking is not a universal occurrence Trafficking arises in particular contexts

MORAL REGIMES OF CLUB: moral regime of workplace disagrees with moral boundary of hostess (e.g. a moral conservative is placed at a moral rationalist club) = Moral Violations

EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Contract workers are more vulnerable to trafficking than are part time workers (undocumented workers and documented workers) because they cannot easily quit

Is Trafficking Inevitable?

Moral violations do not automatically result in trafficking Morals are flexible and could shift to fit moral regime

of workplace; Some quit.

CONCLUSION

FLAWS IN U.S. ANTI-TRAFFICKING CAMPAIGN:FLAW #1: ABOLITIONIST CAMPAIGN

MISINFORMED ABOUT NATURE OF HOSTESS WORK

FLAW #2: UNIVERSAL SOLUTION OF RESCUE WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF WORKER EMPOWERMENT

FLAW #3: TOP-TO-BOTTOM SOLUTIONFLAW #4: RESCUE = RETURN TO LIFE OF

POVERTY IN PHILIPPINES