“Comfort Women” is the Japanese Imperial government’s euphemism for the women and children they trafficked as sex slaves between 1932 and 1945, until the end of World War II. Most of the victims were Korean and Chinese, although many others were from the Philippines, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, East Timor, Hong Kong, and Macau. While some were recruited by false advertisements promising work as house maids, factory workers and nurses, the majority were abducted and violently coerced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers at government sponsored “comfort stations” intended to improve army morale, as a strategy of war.
It is estimated that some 400,000 women and children were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers and officers at these government-sponsored rape camps. The “Comfort Women” were often kept in sub-human conditions and suffered from starvation, physical and psychological abuse, disease, infections, and rampant STDs. Many committed suicide. Monuments for the “Comfort Women” are being built around the world to memorialize these women and their communities and to educate new generations of the dangers of warfare and our global responsibility to protect human rights.
As President Trump travels to Japan, Japanese officials launch media campaign attempting to “rewrite” their history. The meeting between the President Trump and the “living proof” of the Japanese…
Judith Mirkinson No apologies Regarding “ ‘Comfort women’ memorial nears final OK” (Feb. 9): We’d like to correct Lizzie Johnson’s assertion that the Japanese government has apologized about the Imperial…
First Published Jun 27, 2016, http://18millionrising.org/2016/06/remembrance-as-resistance.html Miho Kim Lee, CWJC Coordinator, The author (center) holds an image of Zainichi Korean “Comfort Woman” survivor Song Shing-do halmoni, with Yuri Kochiyama (bottom right) at…
