HELP Asian Women’s Shelter

Network News

Scripture

2020/7/1

79
No.

“and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among
your people Israel-being aware of their afflictions andpains, and spreading out their hands toward this templethen hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, anddeal with everyone according to all they do, since you
know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart),”2 Chronicles 6 29-30

A Home with No “Musts”
A member of the staff here at HELP Asian Women’ s
Shelter noted that she has learned many things sinceengaging in support activities at HELP. To the question,“What kinds of things, for example?” she responded bysaying, “I do not hear the word ‘must’ being spoken
here. The staff never say to the residents that they ‘must’observe the curfew or ‘must’ tidy their rooms.”
Staff members frequently make it known that curfew isfive-thirty, and they may be heard saying “How nice andrefreshing to relax in a tidy room!” but in no instance dothey use imperative words when speaking with residentsof the shelter. Personally, I cannot help but think of thecountless number of times I have said “Do this” or “Don’ t
do this” while raising my children and even whileworking.
At HELP, everyone has a wide degree of individual
freedom in going about their daily activities. Instead of
all residents sitting down for meals at the same time,each resident takes a seat at a desired time between
specified hours and takes desired portions from large
platters of dishes laid out on the dining table. They may
take a bath anytime between nine in the morning andnine at night on any day of the week, so some residents
enjoy taking a shower in the morning, while others makea habit of soaking in the bath before going to sleep. Ther es idents of H EL P wh o come seek ing temporary
emergency shelter are diverse, ranging from women of
non-Japanese nationalities, young women in their teens,
elderly women, women accompanied by their children,
women on welfare and those not on welfare. They may
differ in their language, culture and lifestyle, but theyshare a difficult or painful experience as victims ofdomestic violence, women with no place to belong, or
women who face other personal problems.
HELP can provide shelter for up to twelve people in a
total of eight rooms. Five of these rooms are for women
who come alone and three are for mothers with children.
Residents may stay at the shelter for two weeks, as arule, but not a few who require time to prepare for theirnext step after leaving HELP stay for a few months. For

the safety of DV victims and other reasons, the locationof the shelter remains undisclosed. Therefore, residents
cannot go to work, and their accompanying children
cannot go to a nursery or school, to say the least. They
must spend day after day under the same roof, eating
the same meals and sharing the same living space asother residents at HELP.
Being able to act freely on one’ s own will and choice
instead of being forced to do something by someone
else is what makes people human. It could be said thatthe human atmosphere at HELP is created by theabsence of imperative words in daily life and the wide
freedom of choice that residents are given. A relaxed andcomfortable time passes at the shelter. Yet, the curfew iskept, and the shelter is kept clean and tidy. Why is this?
……………………………………………………..………………………................
I had been writing the above when news of thecoronavirus pandemic came in. Everyone was urged
everyone to wear a mask, wash hands, and thoroughly
sanitize a ll surfaces. Soo n th ereaft er, a st a te o f
emergency was issued, discouraging people frommaking nonessential and nonurgent outings andprohibiting gatherings of people particularly in confined
spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. As
HELP is a shelter where people are gathered to live
together as a group, various measures have beendevised by the staff so it could continue to be a place
where residents can feel safe and secure. They disinfectdoor knobs and handrails as part of their daily duties,
scramble to procure masks and sanitizers, translate andconvey the content of the state of emergency to
non-Japanese residents, and so on. It has also become
necessary to change HELP’ s characteristic buffet-stylemeals, where residents were able to take their own
desired servings of dishes.
I pray for the day we will put an end to this lifestylefilled with “don’ ts” and “must nots” and return to ournormal lives.
Hiroko Matsui (HELP Asian Women’s Shelter Director)

Overview of HELP Beneficiaries in 2019
Non-Japanese Women and Children Victims of Violence
and Japanese Women Recuperating Their Mind and Body
In 2019, HELP provided shelter to 83 people, including 10 women of non-Japanese nationalities,
61 women of Japanese nationality and 12 women accompanied by their children. These residents
stayed at HELP for a cumulative total of 2,099 nights (103.8% compared to the previous year). This
figure saw a slight increase from the previous year, as there were 31 more residents in 2019 than2018. Music therapy was once again offered (four times a month) through the year.
To ensure the safety of residents who are victims of domestic violence, HELP staff accompanied
35.9% of all residents to a medical facility, corresponding to a larger percentage than last year
(31.6%). With respect to non-Japanese residents, a much higher 92.9% needed to be accompanied
to a medical facility, mostly due to their requiring language assistance.

<Non-Japanese Women>
10 women of non-Japanese nationalities stayed at HELP in 2019, including 3 women who eachbrought their child. The 3 children were all preschoolers under the age of 6.
The top reason for these women seeking shelter at HELP was domestic violence (53.8%),
followed by homelessness (38.5%) and other reasons (7.7%). Other reasons included violence froman employer.
Non-Japanese residents as a whole stayed at HELP for an average of 46.46 days. This was a few
days shorter than the average of 50.03 days in 2018, but there continued to be a tendency toward
prolonged stays mostly among women who were waiting for an opening at a medium tolong-term facility and women who had no choice but to postpone their return to their country due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also as a ramification of COVID-19, HELP has been taking extra precautions when complying
with requests for shelter from regions where the coronavirus situation is less severe compared to
the vicinity of HELP, to protect the safety of those seeking shelter.
DV victims: Among the DV victims who were introduced to HELP in 2019, there were a numberof women who had just come to Japan and therefore had hardly any interaction with Japanesepeople and could speak no Japanese. These women acquired basic conversation skills byattending Japanese language lessons in the facility and gradually gained confidence by using
Japanese in their daily living. They also deepened their understanding of daily customs in Japan bylearning about them from staff members who speak their native language. To women with slightly
difficult children, the staff took care to provide an environment where they could play safely under
the watchful eyes of their mothers. The sight of these mothers showering their children with loveand looking after them with patience through their stay until they are accepted in an alternate
facility with a better environment has left a strong impression on the staff at HELP.
Pregnant women: In 2019, HELP provided shelter to a women who was in her last month of
pregnancy for a short period until arrangements were made so she could return to her country.
Homeless women: In 2019, HELP provided shelter to a number of homeless women who weredeprived of a place to reside due to violence from their employers and other such causes andwomen who have lost their homes due to a loss of income caused by a reduction in work. These
women included those who wished to return to their countries.
Care for residents and former residents: In 2019, indoor events were organized for HELP
residents (Halloween costume party, etc.), and outings were made to the circus in autumn and toview the cherry blossoms in spring.

<Japanese Women>
61 women of Japanese nationality stayed at HELP in 2019, including 6 who brought their children. As
their reasons for seeking shelter, 52.9% and more than half gave homelessness as their reason. This wasfollowed by domestic violence (intimate partner violence; IPV) at 31.4%, violence by a family member at
8.6%, pregnancy at 4.3% and other reasons at 2.9%. In 2019, the ratio of women staying at HELP due to
DV (IPV) largely increased compared to the previous year, but the ratios of homeless women andwomen who have fled from violence by a family member saw a decrease.
It is particularly worthy of mention that a woman in her 90s received shelter at HELP in 2019. HELP can
only provide shelter to women who do not require physical assistance, but she satisfied this requirement
and became the oldest resident ever to reside at HELP. She received devoted care also from relevant
institutions and was able to transfer to her next accommodation.
Among the victims of DV (IPV) who resided at HELP in 2019, mothers with children transferred to theirnext accommodation in a relatively short period of time in most cases. In the case of women who came
to HELP alone, there was a woman who needed to spend an ample amount of time at HELP engaging inleisure activities such as embroidery and handicrafts to regain enough energy to proceed to the next
step in her life.
The homeless women who came to HELP in 2019 all differed in age, their reasons for seeking shelter,
and the way they spent their time at HELP. However, many of them were seen trying to look forward asmuch as they could even amid their difficult situation. For example, there was a young woman who
made devoted efforts to make her child happy despite the emotional wound that she carried from an
ordeal she heretofore went through. There was also a woman who rejoiced at her fateful encounter witha same-age woman facing a similar circumstance as her for the first time in her life, and an elderly
woman who took care to maintain her own physical and mental conditions and somehow managed totransfer to a facility of her choice.
Japanese residents stayed at HELP for an average of about 21.3 days. While there were a certain numberof women who were simply waiting for an opening at their next accommodation and moved out withina week, many stayed for longer than three weeks, as was the situation last year (24.1 days).

<Telephone Consultation>
In 2019, HELP received 724 telephone consultations (116.0% compared to last year) from people from27 countries including Japan (17 countries last year). These calls, which were made from nearby
Kanto-area prefectures as well from other regions of Japan and even from overseas, varied widely. They
included a consultation about a mother and child who fled to their home country after suffering DV but
wished to return to Japan, a consultation about whether or not to move back to one’ s home country on
occasion of a child entering primary school, and consultations about having suddenly been evicted andbeing at a complete loss of what to do. Some of the calls were made by men who were pressed to find aplace to stay or men seeking support to keep them from committing violence on their wives.
In addition to the above, calls were received from nearby local governments (consultation desks),
international exchange associations, foreign support organizations and other such organizations, withregard to the provision of support to families where child abuse or domestic violence has occurred.
HELP provided the necessary information as well as counseling to the callers in each of these cases. Calls
were also received from people of increasingly diverse nationalities and languages seeking shelter toescape from dire living conditions.
Telephone consultations from Japanese callers showed roughly the same trend as last year, with manygrieving about the hardships of living after having suffered DV or sexual abuse. Among them, there
were calls from women in need of immediate help living in regions of Japan other than the Kanto
region. These calls are indicative of an increasing need for telephone counseling services that transcend
the constraint of physical distance. Additionally, there were a significant number of calls from nearby
local governments requesting temporary protective care of women who are working to stand on theirown but have become unable to continue their stay at their previous accommodation. There apparently
appears to be a growing need to augment HELP’ s support framework to respond to such calls.

Statistical tables for 2019
Age Distribution of Residents

Reasons for Seeking Shelter(April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2020)

Japanese
Residents

No. of people

Non-Japanese
Residents

Japanese Residents

Homelessness
IPV
Violenceby family member
Pregnancy

Total

Japanese Residents
Non-Japanese Residents

Other

Number of HELP Residents by Nationality(April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2020)

Including residents whose stay extended over the year-end

Non-Japanese Residents

Number of HELP Residents by Nationality
Nationality

Women

Accompanying
ChildrenPhilippines
Indonesia
10 Non-Japanese residents women of which
3 were accompanied by children

Zimbabwe
China
Congo
Peru
Subtotal

61 Japanese residents women of which
6 were accompanied by children

Japan
Total

IPV

Breakdown of Non-Japanese Residents by Region
RegionHomelessness

Tokyo

Other

Saitama
IbarakiTotal

No. of residents

Number of Telehone Consultations
by subject

by Nationality
No. of people

Japanese NonNationals Japanese
Nationals

Nationality

DV

Japan

Violence by family member

Philippines

Human trafficking

Indonesia

Resident status/immigration

Peru

Work

ThailandTemporary protective custody

Iran

Information provision

Pakistan

Emotional problem

USA

Marriage

VietnamDivorce

Mongolia

Problems in married life

Zimbabwe

Children

Bangladesh

Homelessness

Switzerland

Other

India
Tota

Sri Lanka

Destination of Residents
after Leaving HELP
Japanese
Residents

Destination

Japanese Nationals
Non-Japanese Nationals

China

Avg. Length of Stay by
Non-Japanese Residents

Italy

Non-Japanese
Residents

Nigeria

Germany
Russia

days

Kenya

Welfare home

days

Tanzania

Apartment

days

Congo

Women's center

days

Nepal

Home country

days

Bulgaria

Home

Lithuania

Home of friendor acquaintance

Hospital

Total Length of Stayby Nationality

Live-in employment

Japanese Residents

Unknown

Non-Japanese Residents

Undecided

Total

Streets

Other
Total

UnknownTotal

No. ofconsultations

HELP Women’ s Shelter Needs Your Support!
Maintenance Donations
Today’ s difficult circumstances may not allow us to fully appreciate the beautiful flowers of the season,
but we hope everyone is spending their days in good health and spirits. Especially in times like this, our
gratitude for being able to continue our activities to lend a hand to women and children in need of help
with your generous support runs deeper than ever.
Last year, HELP provided shelter to 83 women and children from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia,
Zimbabwe, China and Congo and received telephone consultations regarding women from 27 countries
around the world. To provide heartfelt support to such women and children who seek shelter at HELP toescape from abuse and violence by parents or family members or to find relief from their painful pastand difficult present, we staff at HELP are determined to redouble our efforts.
However, our financial situation is not necessarily comfortable. We therefore seek your generous
support in the form of maintenance donations, so that we may fulfill HELP’ s mission.
July 2020
KYOFUKAI – Japan Christian Women’ s Organization
Mizuho Iida, Women’ s Welfare Committee Chairperson
Hiroko Matsui, Executive Director and HELP Asian Women’ s Shelter Director

Please send your donation to :Post Office Account :Account Name :(Josei no ie HELP)
Goods Donations
At HELP, we pass on items of daily necessity to our residents, not only to bring a measure of basic
comfort to their daily lives, but to also deliver a moment of healing to women and children who havemade it to our shelter after having left behind their familiar surroundings, personal relationships andmuch of their precious belongings so they may get the rest they need and eventually nurture hope andthe will to begin a new life. We will use your generosity to respond to the diverse needs of each of ourresidents in accordance with their age, nationality, culture, etc. and kindly ask for your cooperation as we
continue our efforts.
<Foods>Condiments (sugar, salt, soy sauce, vegetable oil), jam, snacks, drinks (coffee, tea, cocoa, green tea,juice, creamer) *Items that have not passed their expiry dates<Sundry goods>
Shampoo, laundry detergent, kitchen detergent, tissue paper, skin lotion (medium-sized bottles),milky lotion (medium-sized bottles), cosmetics, hand cream<Clothing>
For adults and children: Pajamas, sweat suits, socks, slippers, jackets
For adults: Hooded sweatshirts, underclothing (short and long sleeved) (new items)<Other>Baby strollers (new), folding umbrellas, shoes, notebooks, cotton blankets, bath towels and face
towels (new), handicraft supplies, Quo Cards (prepaid card), gift certificates, etc.

Please send goods donation to :KYOFUKAI
2-23-5 Hyakunincho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073
Please specify your delivery to be made between Monday and Friday.