日本語

An Innocent Verdict for Ms. Nguyet, a Vietnamese Technical Intern Trainee Who Experienced an Isolated Stillbirth!

Ms. Nguyet, a Vietnamese Technical Intern Trainee in Japan, discovered she was pregnant in December 2023. Since before coming to Japan, she had repeatedly been told, “If you become pregnant, you must return to your country.” Because of this, she felt she could not talk to anyone.

On February 2, 2024, she suddenly went into labor while alone at a friend’s home, and sadly, the baby was stillborn. She experienced heavy bleeding, lost consciousness several times, and was later taken to a hospital about 8 hours after the birth. At the hospital, staff contacted the police. She was then charged with the crime of “abandoning a corpse” because she did not “properly handle” the baby’s body.

Throughout the investigation and trial, she consistently said:
“I didn’t throw my baby away. I was in shock and didn’t know what to do.”

However, on March 7, 2025, the Fukuoka District Court sentenced her to a suspended prison term of 1 year and 6 months. On November 4, 2025, the Fukuoka High Court upheld the guilty ruling.

What she needed was support — not punishment.
Ms. Nguyet is not a criminal. She is a victim of a broken system that isolates and punishes migrant women.

Please sign this petition to demand justice and an acquittal for Ms. Nguyet.

Let us say clearly: Isolated childbirth is not a crime!

【Summary of the Case】

Ms. Nguyet, from a poor family in Vietnam, came to Japan in July 2023 as a technical intern trainee to support her family's livelihood while burdened with a debt of 1.5 million yen. Prior to her arrival, the sending organization in Vietnam informed her that she would have to return home if she became pregnant. Around December 2023, she noticed changes in her body and discovered she was pregnant. The pregnancy was not with her current partner, but with someone she had been in a relationship with before coming to Japan. She was repeatedly told by the supervising organization in Japan that she would have to return home if she became pregnant, as she would not be able to work. Afraid of being forced to return home with her debt still looming, she could not tell anyone about her pregnancy, not even her family or her partner.

On February 2, 2024, Ms. Nguyet went to work as usual but left around 10 a.m. due to severe abdominal pain. While cycling home, the pain became unbearable, rendering her unable to move. Fortunately, a passerby offered help and offered to take her home. However, due to her limited proficiency in Japanese, having been in Japan for only six months, she couldn't explain the way to her own home. Instead, she asked to be taken to her partner's home, which was easier to describe.

Upon arriving at her partner's home, her water broke, so she went to the bathroom, where she gave birth. Tragically, the baby was born lifeless, with a pale face and showing no signs of crying, response, or even breathing. Overwhelmed with guilt and regret, Ms. Nguyet found it difficult to face her child for long due to feelings of remorse. Unable to leave the baby as it was, she, in her exhausted state and experiencing heavy bleeding, repeatedly lost consciousness while searching the room for something to place the baby in. Eventually, she found a plastic bag from a supermarket. She placed the baby in the bag, left the handles open, and carried it while apologizing and crying. However, she was too exhausted to continue carrying the baby. Knowing that it is taboo to place a body on the floor in Vietnam, she placed the baby on top of the trash in the trash can nearby. Additionally, she hesitated to show the baby's body to her current partner, feeling remorseful for having stillborn a child with her previous partner.

In the evening, upon her partner's return home, he found Ms. Nguyet covered in blood and unconscious. He promptly took her to a nearby clinic, from where she was later transferred to another hospital by ambulance. The hospital notified the police of the incident, and Ms. Nguyet was interrogated by the police while hospitalized. Subsequently, on February 6, four days after the stillbirth, she was arrested on suspicion of abandoning a corpse and indicted on February 27. 

Throughout the case, Ms. Nguyet has repeatedly said, “I didn’t throw my baby away. I was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do,” and she has continued to insist she is not guilty. Despite this, on March 7, 2025, the Fukuoka District Court found her guilty and sentenced her to 1 year and 6 months in prison, suspended for 3 years. On November 4, 2025, the Fukuoka High Court upheld the guilty ruling.

 

【Our Thoughts】

The situation behind Ms. Nguyet’s isolated stillbirth cannot be understood without recognizing the reality that many technical intern trainees are forced to return to their home countries if they become pregnant. She had repeatedly been told, “If you get pregnant, you will be sent home,” and because she feared returning with large unpaid debt, she felt unable to tell anyone. The language barrier and lack of accessible support left her completely alone, ultimately forcing her into an isolated birth.

“Isolated childbirth” happens when a woman cannot receive prenatal care and must hide her pregnancy from those around her. This situation carries serious physical and emotional risks to both mother and baby. In cases of stillbirth, the mother is often experiencing extreme blood loss, exhaustion, and shock. Expecting her to make rational, calm decisions immediately after such a traumatic event is unrealistic and inhumane. Yet, women in these situations have been criminalized and charged with “abandonment of a corpse” based on their actions immediately following the isolated birth.

While no one questions how hospitals handle the remains of a stillborn baby, women who give birth alone are unfairly expected to manage the body in a “proper” way immediately after childbirth. Women who are arrested and detained after such experiences are often denied the medical care and psychological support they urgently need. Even after surviving a life-threatening medical emergency, the legal system continues to punish and traumatize them.

Japan currently accepts around 450,000 technical intern trainees, many of whom support essential industries and daily life in Japanese society. Yet their basic rights—including freedom of job choice, mobility, and reproductive autonomy—are restricted. Internationally and domestically, the system has been criticized as a form of modern slavery. The belief that pregnancy requires forced return, even during one of the most significant life events—pregnancy and childbirth—is a serious human rights concern.

This issue is not only a violation of women’s labor rights and reproductive rights—it is also a violation of reproductive justice. It highlights deep gender inequality in Japan, where the burden of pregnancy and childbirth is placed solely on women, without support, protection, or legal recognition.

Punishing Ms. Nguyet as a criminal does not solve the underlying problem.
Instead, it hides the structural failures that created her situation.

We call for her acquittal, and we urgently demand social protection and support—not punishment—for her and for others in similar circumstances.

Please sign this petition to demand justice and an acquittal for Ms. Nguyet!!!

Criminalizing her actions is unjust.
What women in such situations need is not punishment, but support and protection.

We are also conducting a paper-based signature campaign supported by the following five organizations. We will submit signatures collected from both Change.org and the paper-based campaign to the court. To avoid duplication, please sign either the Change.org petition or the paper-based one.

 

Signature Collection Coordinator: Support Group for Ms. Nguyet, a Vietnamese Technical Intern Trainee

Address: Minoshima Pastoral Center, 2-5-31 Minoshima, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Zip Code: 812-0017
Phone: 090-7450-9805 (Inoue) Fax: 092-821-7292
Email: inoueym21@yahoo.co.jp 

Organizing Groups  (As of March 31, 2025):

• Asian Lives in Fukuoka
• Kumustaka -Association for Living Together with Migrants
• Foreign Technical Intern Trainees Rights Network - Kitakyushu
• Minoshima Pastoral Center
• General Union
• Kumamoto YWCA
• Kumamoto Group of the Japan Christian Women’s Organization
• Kumamoto Women's Group Against Militarism and for Peace
• Foreign Residents Section, Fukuoka Human Rights Research Institute (Public Interest Incorporated Association)

 

Support Fundraising for Ms. Nguyet's Trial 

We are raising funds to support Ms. Nguyet during her trial, covering legal expenses (lawyer fees and actual expenses), bail, and post-release livelihood support. Your donations are greatly appreciated. Please transfer funds to the following account: Postal transfer: Foreign Technical Intern Trainees Rights Network - Kitakyushu, Account Number: 01750-8-84519."

You can also donate by credit card.
To donate by credit card, please click here