HIROSHIMA (TR) – Hiroshima Prefectural Police last week announced a crackdown on teenage girls who use use dating sites to solicit prostitution, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 9).
Between December 2 and 28, law enforcement carried out patrols of a number of deai-kei “encounter” matchmaking sites in search of “inappropriate” messages from young females. Officers then concealed their identity and contacted the girls.
Over that period, officers took 26 girls, aged between 14 and 19, into protective custody
Between April and November of last year, Hiroshima Prefecture was one of 10 administrative divisions of Japan to initiate such patrols. Since last month, the mandate has been nationwide.
Since 2012, sex club employees pretending to be customers have used such sites to recruit girls for employment in the form of prostitution referred to as enjo kosai (or compensated dating). The high rate of occurrence of the incidents has raised concerns with prefectural police.
“So that girls do not encounter trouble with such crimes, we are focusing our efforts on patrolling the Web,” said a prefectural police representative.
Of the 26 girls cited by prefectural police, the majority were in search of spending money.