ABSTRACT
The plight of more than 200, 000 "Asian Comfort Women" were one of the most consequential exposé this century had to uncover. They were kidnapped, raped tortured, imprisoned, and even murdered by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. In 1990, the Japanese government denied the existence of these so-called "Comfort Women." However, they were forced to admit their involvement in the operations of "Comfort Station" after Professor Yoshimi Yoshiaki of Chuo University found wartime documents in the Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies in Japan confirming their active participation. Currently, most of the victims are either dead, in poor physical, and psychological condition or even dying. The surviving "Comfort Women" wanted a public apology, confession, memorial and compensation. The Japanese government decided to set up a fund to compensate the victims by collecting contributions from Japanese citizens. Nevertheless, the Japanese government still refuses to give a public apology and not a single victim received any compensation yet.
World War II was probably one of the most catastrophic disaster man has ever experienced in this century. Man’s destructive and arrogant nature was not enough to justify the number of death, devastation and chaos it brought to every nation on earth. Somehow, a part of that history got buried among the rubbles of reparations and deceits of war crimes. The plight of more than 200,000 "Asian Comfort Women" were one of the most important revelations our generation had to comprehend. They were the ones who got kidnapped, forcibly drafted, raped, tortured, imprisoned, beaten, murdered and demoralized by the Japanese military authorities during their rampage in the Pacific. Most of us may have heard their stories on the television or radio but the truth remained to be seen. None of us have any idea of what really happened behind the walls of the comfort stations and the shallow ditches that served as their final resting-place.
This research paper was written for the purpose of informing our fellow students about this very controversial topic. Our goal is to provide some insight about the very important details in their life as comfort women and the aftermath of their struggle. It will also depict the problems they had to face after revealing their secrets and the long awaited apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
The events that led to the international awareness of the "Comfort Women" began in 1988. An activist group led by Professor Yun Chung Ok of Ehwa Women’s University in Korea conducted and presented a research about comfort women. In 1990, 37 women’s group in Korea formed the Voluntary Service Corps Problems Resolution Council and demanded that the Japanese government admit that Korean women had been forcibly drafted to serve as "Comfort Women". They demanded a public apology, confession, memorial and compensation for survivors and their families. In 1993, eighteen Filipina comfort women filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government
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In response, the Japanese government denied the accusations and maintained that it was never involved in operating comfort stations. But in 1992, Professor Yoshimi Yoshiaki of Chuo University found wartime documents in the Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies confirming that Japanese Forces operated the brothels. On the same day that excerpts from the documents were published in Japanese newspapers forcing the government to admit their involvement.
A. Statistics
The story of the Japanese military’s "comfort stations" began in 1932, under the command of Japanese General Okamura Yasuji. He found a solution to the 223 reported and hundreds more unreported rapes at the hands of the Japanese troops by forced drafting women to be sent to his camp in Shanghai, China. Around 80,000 to 200,000 women mostly from Korea, and other neighboring countries like China, Philippines, Burma and Indonesia were recruited until the war ended in the Pacific in 1945.
B. Age
The women were between the age of fourteen to thirty when they were drafted or kidnapped. The youngest was only fourteen and a half years old. Most of these women were under 25 years old and half were between 16 and 20 years old. Some of the women drafted were mothers and daughters all serving in the same comfort stations till the end of the war.
C. Customer
Only Japanese military personnel’s could use the services of comfort women and no civilians were allowed to visit the places referred to as "Comfort Stations". Generals as well as ordinary soldiers visited some of these places, however, some of these places were assigned only to high ranking officials. For instance, officers’ club only admitted officials, captains and high-ranking officers and generals who would usually want Japanese women. The lower ranking or noncommissioned officers and soldiers were admitted to the usual places where the comfort women came from other neighboring countries like Korea, China, Philippines, Burma and Indonesia.
D. Number of Service per day
The number of customers was less for those who worked at the officer’s club. Usually they were visited by the same person and have one to three customers per day. And for those who worked at places other than the officer’s club, the number could go as high as thirty to forty per day. One victim even received 60 visiting cards within three hours one night (one visiting card allowed three minutes of visit).
E. Risk and Danger
Since most comfort women worked at places near the battlefields, their safety were never certain. During the war, the allied troops mined the sea and bombed the Japanese Fleets along with the women they held captive. Furthermore, a lot of the women who traveled with the soldiers on land became susceptible to air raids and ambushes. Some were even forced to commit suicide "hara-kiri" along with the Japanese soldiers who does not want to get caught by the enemy. And to those who survived, it was an unforgettable nightmare of witnessing the carnage of their fallen comrades and oppressors.
III. THE AFTERMATH
Many women became sterile from the repeated rapes and longtime intensive sexual activities. Women who became pregnant or infected with sexually transmitted diseases received a shot of the antibiotic Terramycin, which the women referred to as ‘Number 606." This drug made the women’s body swell up and would induce an abortion. The most common diseases they suffered from were barrenness, uterine diseases, stomachache, headache, neuralgia, heart disease, high blood pressure, syphilis, and gonorrhea.
Even after the war, the lives of every comfort women who survived was never the same again. They suffered a great deal of psychological problems associated with their bad experiences.
IV. THE PRESENT
A. Life after 50 years
Most of the victims are either dead, in poor physical conditions, some of them are even seriously ill or dying. The age of these women ranges from 67 to 80 years of age. Loneliness, poverty and illness were their general condition. Some have no children and some remarried at their old ages because they had no other family members. Some lived with the children of their cohabitants—they had no children of their own and their cohabitants were dead. Some lived in the nursing houses for many years. Some ran away from home because they could not get along with their children. In these cases, the victims seldom received spiritual and financial support from their families.
B. Compensation
Currently, the Japanese government set up the "Asia Peace National Fund for Women" to atone for the crime related to the comfort women. It is reported that the fund will collect contributions from Japanese citizens and distribute them to the victims. Meanwhile the Japanese government plans to bear the expenses for the operations of the fund so as to indirectly supplement the compensation.
V. CONCLUSION
The life of every "Comfort Woman" will always be a part of the Japanese war crimes that can never be neglected anymore. The scars it left on the bodies and in the minds of every victim will always remind us of the devastation that wars bring to every human being. There is nothing in this world that would be enough to compensate for all the pain and sufferings these "comfort women" experienced during and after their captivity. In fact, there would only be a few of them who would be able to forgive their abuser, but none of them would be able to forget.
However, the fund established by the Japanese government is an insult to every "Comfort Woman" seeking for justice. The Japanese government’s way of obtaining the fund to settle the issue appears to be a trick to avoid direct compensation and responsibility as the main offender under the international law. And even until now, the Japanese government refuses to give the public apology these women were hoping for. The Japanese revealed their insensitivity by ignoring the request of these women knowing they are running out of time.
We, as the new generation should recognize and support the fight for justice, for all victims of sexual slavery during World War II. Unless, we keep the fire of compassion for these comfort women burning within us, their plight will be buried once more. Indeed, we are the generation who uncovered their secret and we are also the only one who could help them get the justice they rightfully deserved.
VI. REFERENCES