history of japanese military
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The term “comfort women” is a euphemism for the estimated 200,000 young women and girls coerced into sexual slavery and held in camps throughout Asia and the Pacific Islands by the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy before and during World War II. Victims were forcibly recruited from Japan’s colonies and occupied territories, including, but not limited, to Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The Japanese military subjected women and girls to continual rape, forcing them to serve anywhere from ten to forty men a day, torture, mutilization, starvation, and forced abortions. Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence of this crime, the Japanese government to this day has evaded legal responsibility.
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In 1991, Grandmother Kim Hak-soon first spoke out about her experience of military rape and torture. She emphatically demanded an official apology from the Japanese government. Since then, more and more survivors began sharing their testimonies. They, along with Kim, sparked a global movement in pursuit of justice long-overdue and restoration of their human dignity. These women also built solidarity with other survivors of sexual violence all over the world, especially those in war-torn regions. To this day, their movement continues to thrive despite continual efforts by the Japanese government to erase this history.
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