There was a woman in China who was from a low income family but who longed to be rich, as most Chinese people do. Let us give her the name Ou. Ou had qualified for a career but it was hard, exhausting work where she was always on call and sometimes had to work for over twenty-four hours without a break. She heard stories of how some women had gone to Japan and returned with enough money to establish themselves. For a while a man seemed to offer an escape from the grind of her daily life but he proved false. Another romance failed. She was always helping people, believing in the guanxi (pronounced ‘gwan shee’) principle of mutual favours and being a helper by nature. Desperate for a better life she decided to try Japan. She knew the terrible stories of Chinese women lured into prostitution in Japan and carefully sought an agency she could trust. She had no money to pay the agency fees and fares so asked all her friends to return their favours to her. Some gave her what they could but others let her down and Ou had to turn to a family member for the rest. Most of the money was to be paid back from her wages as soon as possible.
This woman is not stupid and reads people fairly well but despite her care she arrived in Japan and was taken to a grope and sing joint with little private rooms out the back where the expectations on ‘waitresses’ were well outside her moral boundaries. Her passport and papers were retained by the ‘agency’ and she believed the papers were not legitimate so she could not leave. She was devastated and made a desperate phone call to a foreign friend who had promised to help if she got into trouble. A strong minded person, she calmed herself and told the manager she would only do waitress duties. She also let it be known that she had a Western boyfriend.
The Western friend was really worried. What could he do? Should he travel to an unfamiliar country and walk into a bawdy house and tell them he was taking one of their women home with him? He turned to the internet looking for help and advice. He tracked down a women’s shelter in Tokyo that specialized in rescuing the desperate women that are recruited from other countries into the Japanese sex industry. An e-mail brought a response from a Christian organization that supported the shelter. The woman that answered was from an American church and was very concerned to hear his story and soon he was informed that some foreign women lured into the sex industry end up dead, with body parts hidden in the countryside. They told him firmly that Ou was in danger for her refusal. He began to call her every couple of weeks, hoping he could find a way to get her home but also unwittingly strengthening her claim that she had a Western boyfriend and perhaps keeping her safe. Ou is very strong minded and decided to stick it out as she could never repay people if she returned to China with nothing. Soon the Church worker had found a contact in the right city and a rescue team was ready to go in to retrieve Ou the moment any girl in the establishment received any physical ill-treatment. She would be taken to the shelter and assisted in every way necessary for her safety.
She remained at the Japanese entertainment place for the agreed upon time and though hating every minute she put on a happy face. Every excursion was supervised so no meeting could be arranged with those who were ready to come to her aid. Her will triumphed and she never allowed any customers to do what they expected from the other waitresses. The manager paid her the minimum wage and she returned home with much less than she had dreamed of.
When she got home her relative came immediately and took every cent she had earned and I have not heard if she has ever managed to repay the full amount. She went into depression for a long time and could not even bear to look for work, feeling she had no future.
Many of us criticise churches. It’s the fashion these days, but they have always been there to help when things like this happen. Police and governments don’t seem to have the power to stop or even combat the corruption in their midst that assists the International Trade in Women (horrific title) to continue. It is almost certain that corrupt officials in China and Japan would have been part of the organisation that organized Ou’s deception. An American church helped a Chinese woman in Japan when there was no one else and an American and some Japanese Christians were willing to risk possible retribution to go in and get a stranger out of a bad situation. No red tape or international diplomacy required. These are wonderful human beings.