A 12-year-old girl from Thailand was forced to provide sexual services for money at a private-room massage parlor in Tokyo.
The heinous crime sent shock waves across the country when it came to light following a series of events including the arrest of the owner of the massage parlor and the mother of the girl — who allegedly brought her to Japan and handed her over to the massage parlor — earlier this month.
This case was a shock even for experts involved in advocacy against human trafficking in Japan, said Mariko Yamaoka, the head of Not For Sale Japan, an organization working toward ending human trafficking in the country.
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