2021 Volume 18 Pages 35-55
This paper examines changes in Ｗ omen’s Protection Services based on
the Anti-Prostitution Act and the gender norms found therein, focusing not
on the law itself but on its implementation from the documents of Ikuno
Gakuen, a Women’s Protection Facility. Based on the records of 1520 cases
from 1949 to 1997, I show the changes in the residents of Ikuno Gakuen
from four periods: Before the enforcement of the Anti-Prostitution
Act, after the enforcement of the Act, after the issuance of the “45 Notification,”
and after the reduction of government subsidies. In addition, I examined
the gender norms found in the format of the case records and in
the case records of two of the residents. The following three points became
apparent: First, in the period before the enactment of the Anti-Prostitution
Act, the residents were of a higher class than in other periods; second,
while the difficulties faced by the residents such as prostitution, violence,
poverty and disability have shown little change throughout the 51
years, the focus has changed with the times, as the enactment of the Anti-
Prostitution Law led to a persistent focus on prostitution. Third, even
though the Women’s Protection Services relied on the discriminatory Anti-
Prostitution Act, which protected women within marriage and punished
women outside of marriage, when we focus on the implementation of the
law, a critical view of the gender norms contained in the law and the flexibility
in their practices can be seen without being bound by the law. Such
a study, focusing on the implementation of the law, will contribute to the
discussion on the review of the current Women’s Protection Services and
Anti-Prostitution Act.
