Language and Written Expression IV
Teacher: Stella Saubidet
Student: Stefania Perez
Comfort Women - Japanese Denial
Violence
against women refers to any violent act whose target is specifically women
because of their gender and to “the crucial mechanisms by which women are
forced into a subordinate position compared to men” (UN Declaration of the
Elimination of Violence Against Women), and has from intermediate to long-term
physical, sexual and mental consequences, not only on women but also on their
families and communities. During military conflicts, women are the ones who
must face destructive forms of violence, displayed to reach military or
political objectives, terrorizing people, destroying families and communities. For
centuries, the rape of women during war times has been taken as unavoidable and
not regarded as a war crime despite the suffering of the abused women and the evidences
of the consequences it has. In Japan, during World War II, military forces established
brothels where “Comfort Women” were kept against their will and forced into
sexual slavery by soldiers; nevertheless, the Japanese government claimed no
military responsibility over the comfort women centres, has refused their
existence as such and denied giving official apologies and support.
Up to 200,000 women worked in the
brothels arranged by the Japanese army during the Second World War, most of
them were from Korea, China and other Asian countries occupied by Japan. The
girls were 11, 12, 13, and 14 years old when they were kidnapped and trafficked
to “comfort stations”, where they were abused uncountable times each day, apart
from being beaten, threatened, attacked with knives by soldiers and even forced
to have home-made abortions if they become pregnant. The women were not allowed
to leave the stations, some of them were given garments and make up but some
others were given nothing in compensation for their suffering. Consequently, numerous
women died because of infections and sexually transmitted diseases; others committed
suicide and several were killed by the soldiers compelling other women to watch
the punishment. Some surviving women obtained freedom when the War ended and
then returned to their countries; however, most of them felt it was impossible
to go back home because of the visible and invisible consequences of being a
comfort women, so they stayed in the country where they had unwillingly worked
as prostitutes, and even died there. “Comfort Women” are still waiting for
acknowledgement and ask Japan to recognize that they have been obliged and
abused by its soldiers.
“Comfort
Women” have given their testimony all over the world after years of silence
because of fear and shame. This is the case of Chung Seo–woon and Hah Sang-suk,
two Korean girls who were cheated, trafficked and abused by Japanese soldiers. Two
men said to Chung Seo-woon that she would be taken to work to a Japanese
textile factory, but instead she was taken to a warehouse with other thousand
girls, their hair was cut and then they were taken to Indonesia. Chung Seo-woon
was sterilized by a Japanese doctor and later sent to a “comfort station” where
she was visited by, on average, fifty men a day and a hundred on weekends. “I
was given morphine shots, whether I liked it or not”, explained Chung Seo-woon.
She was only given rice, miso soup and turnip pickle to eat. She used to be hit
and kicked if she resisted and water was poured all over her if she fainted. Similarly,
Hah Sang-suk agreed to go to China to work in a factory, but she was taken to
an inn where a doctor examined her and sent her to one of the twenty rooms of
the place. “Usually, about ten to twenty men came each day”, said Hah. She and
the other girls were fed by Chinese people and they were given make up and
clothes but no money. Hah Sang-suk also used to be beaten and kicked, and she
fought with the soldiers who refused to wear condoms. When Japan lost the war,
the girls were set free; yet, owing to the shame of her body shape, Hah decided
to remain in the country where she had been kept, since she was afraid of what
people in her village might say or think of her. These women are still
suffering the consequences of this experience and they wonder whether it is
more painful to be an ex-comfort women or the fact that the Japanese government
accuses them of having accepted to work as prostitutes.
“Comfort
Women” are still waiting a formal apology on the part of the Japanese
government who have only given sporadic unofficial apologies and whose Prime
Minister still denies have taken part on this issue and claims that comfort
women were willing volunteers. In 1993, a Japanese cabinet secretary recognized
the existence of the so-called “comfort stations” and the role of the soldiers,
and even offered an unofficial apology. However, as historian Bernd Stöver (a
historian at Potsdam University) explained “the apologies were isolated
occurrences; there was never a full admission of guilt nor was there any
official financial compensation program”, and that is the reason why ex-comfort
women have not accepted the apologies and strongly defend their history. On the
other hand, by 2007, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed that “Comfort Women”
were not forced sexual slaves, but instead enthusiastic volunteers. He
commented to a reporter that “there was no evidence to prove there was coercion
as initially suggested. That largely changes what constitutes the definition of
coercion, and we have to take it from there”. As a response to this, the 78
year-old South Korean survivor Lee Yong-Soo, who was taken in 1944 by Japanese
soldiers to a brothel in Taiwan, demanded that “the Japanese government must
not run from its responsibilities. I want them to apologise and to admit that
they took me away when I was a little girl to be a sex slave”. Lee Yong-Soo
speaks on behalf of the other 200.000 similar stories of maltreatment and
suffering, and asks for respect and an admission of guilt.
Approximately,
three quarters of “Comfort Women” died during the Second World War and the
survivors were left infertile, due to sexual trauma and sexually transmitted
diseases, they have visible and invisible scars, and even after more than 70
years of the war end, as a 2011 clinical study shows, ex-comfort women are more
predisposed to suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yet, the surviving “Comfort
Women” and their supporters still struggle for their rights: they have created
organizations for the ex-comfort women to live, they have asked for financial
support to governments and private organizations and they participate on
“Wednesday Demonstrations” in front of the Japanese Embassy in the USA, among
other forms of protest. “Comfort women” claim for recognition and liability on
the part of the Japanese government, whose history still doubts about the
existence of sexually coerced women, and they expect that the passed away
comfort women be honoured by the acknowledgement of their suffering now and
then.
Bibliography
·
Williamson,
L. (2013). Comfort Women: South Korean
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http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22680705
·
Stop
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·
Brooks,
K. (2013, November 25). The History of
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from http://www.huffingpost.com/2013/11/25/comfortwomen-wanted
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Spritzer,
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Tull,
M. (2014, May 19). Symptoms of PTSD after a Rape. Retrieved from http://ptsd.about.com/od/causesanddevelopment/a/consequencesofrape.htm
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Smith,
N. (2008). I Was Wrong: The Meanings of
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WILPF
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Women” from Korea. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://koreaverband.ahkorea.com/_file/trostfrauen/Testimonies_KoreanComfortWomen_english.pdf
·
Former Comfort Woman tells uncomforting
story. (n.d.). Retrieved
from http://www.dw.de/former-comfort-woman-tells-uncomforting-story/a-17060384
·
United
Nations General Assembly. (1993, December 20). Declaration of Elimination of Violence against Women. Retrieved
from http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm
