'Comfort Women' featured in "Until The Violence Stops"
In the early 1990s, Korean victims of Japan’s military sexual slavery broke their silence and came forward nearly a half century after WWII, followed by other survivors in China, Taiwan, North Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Timor L’Este. Now as the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII approaches, the aging survivors are dying off one by one without redress from the Japanese government, which still denies legal responsibility.
[1] There have been no formal apologies, and as recently as May 2001, no mention of the imperial army’s system of sexual slavery during WWII has been included in Japan’s history textbooks.
As patterns of systematic rape and sexual violence continue today in places of armed conflict such as Sudan, Congo, and Iraq, the importance of recognizing the human rights atrocity committed against women during WWII is paramount.
The euphemism ‘comfort women’ was coined by imperial Japan to refer to young females of various ethnic and national backgrounds and social circumstances who were forced to offer sexual services to the Japanese troops during the Asia/Pacific Wars between 1932 and 1945. Some were minors sold into brothels or placed in ‘comfort stations’; others were deceptively recruited by middlemen; still more were forcibly abducted. Estimates of the number of ‘comfort women’ range between 50,000 to 200,000.
[2]
At the end of the war, many of the women were killed by retreating troops or simply abandoned. For example, in one case in Micronesia, the Japanese Army killed 70 ‘comfort women’ in one night just before the arrival of American troops.
[3] Many of those who were abandoned died of starvation and disease. Others did not know where they were, hundreds of miles from their homes, had no money, and no means to return.
[4]
Survivors who made it home returned to what were often lives of isolation and societal rejection, compounded by deeply instilled feelings of guilt and shame. Many were ostracized, beaten or even killed. Most of those still living are extremely poor and suffer from severe physical and psychological problems.
[5] Many could not marry or were abandoned by their spouse upon return.
As a result of violent physical and sexual abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and drug addictions arising from the wartime experience, the women suffered serious health effects, including permanent damage to their reproductive organs and urinary tracts.
[6] Some survivors found themselves unable to bear children as a result of their mistreatment. Those few who are still alive suffer to this day.
Hibaaq Osman, Special Representative for V-Day, met advocates for the former ‘comfort women’ at the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery, held in Tokyo in December 2000. To discuss how V-Day could support their advocacy on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII in 2005, Hibaaq met with Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Taiwanese, East Timorese, Dutch, and Filipino activists in June and November 2004. At an International Planning Meeting with V-Day convened by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, women’s organizations in 8 countries conceived the Global V-Day Campaign for Justice to ‘Comfort Women.’
The Global V-Day Campaign for Justice to ‘Comfort Women’ launched on February 28, 2005, building toward a Global Day of Action on August 10, 2005, when simultaneous demonstrations will be held in front of Japanese embassies around the world. Held during the Beijing+10 session at the UN, the V-Day launch event in New York had an overflow crowd of nearly 100 women leaders and a range of media covering the campaign, including CNN, MBC (one of the 3 largest South Korean News Stations), JANE magazine, The Associated Press, The World Union Press, Women’s eNews, The Nation, The Baltimore Sun, and Radio Internacional Feminista. Leading up to August 10, the Global Campaign’s partner organizations in each country are carrying out public activities to bring attention to the demands of the ‘comfort women’ survivors, such as:
- a global petition to be signed and presented to the UN [CLICK HERE]
- 60 days of demonstrations and survivors’ testimonies leading up to the 60th anniversary of the war’s end
- marches featuring the survivors and national celebrities
- photographic exhibits, film tours, testimonial books
- campaigns for inclusion of ‘comfort women’ history in textbooks
- construction of museums to document the enslavement of civilians as ‘comfort women’ and their ongoing struggle for justice from the Japanese government
To draw local media attention to the issue, the Campaign will feature celebrity benefit performances of
The Vagina Monologues in Seoul, Korea, and Tokyo, Japan, featuring ‘comfort women’s’ voices in new material for the play. V-Day will also place an International Spotlight on ‘Comfort Women’ at every V-Day 2006 benefit performance of
The Vagina Monologues held at college campuses and community centers around the world, to raise awareness and expose the issue globally. Additional plans potentially include bringing ‘comfort women’ survivors and activists to educate US audiences about their human rights claims and to encourage groups to lobby the US government to withhold support from Japan’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
With performances and events on behalf of the ‘comfort women,’ V-Day unites activism with performance art to open dialogue, draw international attention and support, and reverse efforts by Japanese nationalists to erase from history one of the most horrendous war crimes against women in the 20th century.
[7] Local activists and advocates for the former ‘comfort women’ will determine the use of the funds from the V-Day performances to honor these women’s experiences and condemn the impunity of the Japanese government.
'Comfort Woman' featured in "Until The Violence Stops"
The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (South Korea)
Since 1990, the Korean Council has raised in governmental and international arenas the issues of military sexual slavery by Japan, demanding an official apology by the Japanese government, compensation to the survivors and their bereaved families, and punishment of those who were responsible for operating the system. The Korean Council works directly with the aging survivors providing medical support, counseling, shelter, and local accompaniment by volunteers.
Japan V-Day Steering Committee (Japan)
Efforts of Japanese groups to realize just remedies for the victims of the ‘comfort women’ system have been seriously blocked by stonewall attitudes in the government and domestic courts and by harsh right-wing attacks. To bring to Tokyo the Global V-Day Campaign for Justice to ‘Comfort Women,’ the Japan V-Day Steering Committee has formed, sharing the goals to: (i) shame the Japanese government to address responsibility for the crimes; (ii) provide direct support to survivors by raising awareness and funds; and (iii), honor the courage and efforts of the survivors. Activities will include a V-Day art event, symposium, press conference, and lobbying meetings with members of the Diet.
Asian Centre for Women’s Human Rights (Philippines)
ASCENT was set up to respond to the training needs of women's organizations in Asia on human rights standards. In the 1990s, ASCENT documented the experiences of Filipino comfort women, eventually filing a case against the Japanese government for its abuses. In 1998, ASCENT’s Executive Director addressed the UN at the historic conference establishing the Permanent International Criminal Court, urging it to act on the complaints of women survivors of rape and sexual slavery.
Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation (Taiwan)
TWRF was established in 1987 to provide shelter and safety to child prostitutes. In the 1990s the organization dedicated itself to assisting women survivors of Japan’s military sexual slavery during WWII. In 1992, the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation was selected to serve as the government’s focal point to address concerns for former “comfort women” of Taiwan. Estimates indicate that at least 1,200 women from Taiwan were victimized as “comfort women” between 1938-1945 and sent overseas to Japanese military stations.
FOKUPERS – Communication Forum for East Timorese Women (Timor L’Este)
FOKUPERS works to support and empower women who became victims of violence as a result of the oppression and occupation of the Indonesian or Japanese military, including ex political prisoners, war widows, and the ‘comfort women’ survivors of the WWII era. FOKUPERS began working with ‘comfort women’ survivors since 2000 when they wrote an indictment for the Tokyo Tribunal, and helped two survivors attend the final decree in The Hague in December 2001. With 11 other NGOs FOKUPERS refused the presence of the Japanese Defense Force in Timor L’Este in 2001 to draw attention to the past history of Japanese occupation. FOKUPERS addressed a letter to President Xanana Gusmao on the demand for justice to the ‘comfort women,’ and held a meeting with the Prime Minister in May 2002.
Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice (Indonesia)
After founding the Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice, called APIK, Nursyahbani (Nur) Katjasung became the prosecutor for the Tokyo Tribunal. Today she is a member of the National Assembly and veteran performer of “The Vagina Monologues.” APIK has since translated both the Tribunal judgment and
The Vagina Monologues into Bahasa language. APIK has helped thousands of women in need of legal aid particularly in the areas of domestic violence, sexual harassment, abuse and rape, marital and family problems, and inheritance and property rights.
Stichting Japanse Ereschulden – Foundation for Japanese Honorary Debts (The Netherlands)
During the Japanese occupation of former Netherlands East Indies from 1942 to 1945 some 300,000 Dutch citizens suffered from the brutal and systematic violation of human rights by military and civil servants of the then Japanese Government. Many of the victims were locked up in concentration camps, where death penalties and other harsh punishment were common practice. Since 1994, the Foundation of Japanese Honorary Debts has held monthly demonstrations at the Japanese Embassy in The Hague calling for acknowledgement from the Japanese government in the form of a public statement of regret and compensation to men, women, and children sent to the concentration camps.
1 It’s in our hands: Stop violence against women, Amnesty International, 2004, p. 103
2 Gay McDougal, Systematic Rape, Sexual Slavery and Slavery-like Practices During Armed Conflict: Update to the Final Report, U.N. Economic and Social Council, 52nd Sess., (2000) at par. 68; Ustinia Dolgopol & Snehal Paranjape, Comfort Women: an Unfinished Ordeal, Report of a Mission, 31 (International Commission of Jurists 1994). For a more detailed description of the way historians have estimated the number of comfort women see Yoshimi Yoshiaki "Comfort Women": Sexual Slavery in the Japanese Military During WWII (Suzanne O'Brien trans. Columbia University Press 2000)
3 George Hicks, "Comfort women, sex slaves of the Japanese Imperial Force", Heinemann Asia Singapore, 1995, p115
4 Dolgopol & Paranjape, p29
5 Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, http://www.womenandwar.net/english/menu_01.php
6 Hwang v. Japan, Complaint, 5, No. 1:00CV02233, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll
7 “The Historical Significance of the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal 2000—Overcoming the Culture of Impunity for Wartime Sexual Violence,” Yayori Matsui, in Kanagawa University Review, No. 39, 7/1/2001
