Some female Vietnamese technical trainees have received contraceptive treatments based on instructions by organizations involved in a Japanese internship program, a Kyodo News survey has revealed, with the practice raising concerns that such trainees' reproductive rights have not been respected.
The government is considering scrapping the current technical internship program for foreigners, which began in 1993 to transfer knowledge and skills to developing countries. It plans to create a new program taking into account the problems and rights violations observed under the current system, including issues such as unpaid wages and harassment.
According to a recent survey conducted via a support group for Vietnamese trainees in Japan, nine women were advised by local intermediary organizations, which gather trainee candidates and send them to Japan, to undergo contraceptive treatment. Five of them actually received such treatments, which included the use of internal birth control rings, the survey showed.