Sex and the University ~ the blog

Clicking on the links will take you to a full-length news article.

• While current Prime Minister Abe continues to deny that the Japanese military forced women to work as comfort women in wartime brothels, Japan's ex-Prime Minister says Japan was responsible for wartime sex slaves. Read three women's accounts of their brutal treatment at the hands of the Japanese here.

• Sex slavery isn't in the past, and it isn't limited to Third World countries: it's a problem in Vancouver, where sex slaves are trafficked from Asia to work in "massage parlours". First Nations women are also frequently victims of sex abuse - and it isn't reported in the mainstream media.

• It's also a growing problem in Britain, where young women from impoverished countries (especially Lithuania) are imported and forced to work in brothels. It's estimated that 4,000 women are forced to work in Britain's sex trade at any given time - and if they manage to escape, they are often deported back to their home countries, where they face the same cycle of violence. The Telegraph reports that women can be bought for as little as £1,400. Read one Nigerian woman's account here.

• What's being done? Britain has set up a task force to combat human trafficking, and has signed the European Convention on Human Trafficking. The Protection Project works to "to influence policy and practice in the war against trafficking". The V-Day movement discusses sex slavery here. PBS features the world of sex trafficking here.