Citation

Muto Y. J. National Womens Educ. Center Jpn. 2005; 9: 85-94.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Independent Administrative Institution National Women's Education Center)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Facilities for women in need of protection are based Japan's anti-prostitution and social welfare laws. But the women who make use of these facilities today do so only because they have no other choice, even though their problems are very diverse. Since 2001, these facilities have been sheltering victims of domestic violence, indicating that the system is changing to adapt to changing needs, but the change is very slow. The troubles of the women who make use of protective facilities are complicated and diverse, reflecting the issues of society. Contemporary users experience problems such as alcoholism, child abuse, poverty, and mental disease. This paper compares four groups of protective facility users. The first group is of women who were arrested before establishment of the anti-prostitution law, and second group is of users of protective facilities for women in 1954. The third group is of women surveyed from 1995 to 1998, and the lat group is of women whose data I collected myself. What are the characters and problems of these different groups and what differences and changes can be observed?At one time it was thought that protective facilities for women were unnecessary, but in actuality the number of new users is increasing, and the number of women who successfully leave the facilities is also increasing. New laws have been enacted to protect the victims of domestic violence. Users needs are constantly changing. It is the time to rethink the purposes of protective facilities and the services they offer.