“Comfort Women” Passage
Background
The 2017 California History-Social Science (H-SS) Framework emphasizes several areas: providing greater content knowledge; inquiry-based critical thinking skills in connection with multiple disciplines; stronger literacy skills; and citizenship that promotes human rights and democratic values in the history and social sciences curriculums. In terms of content knowledge, the framework encourages a more inclusive history curriculum, reflective of California’s rich diversity.[1] According to the California History-Social Science Project, a lead author of the new H-SS Framework, 21.6 percent of the total school enrollment in California’s public schools (2012–2013) was classified as English learners. This signifies the necessity of providing students with more content-specific informational texts that are relevant to and reflective of diverse populations.
The 2017 California H-SS Framework includes content on “comfort women.”[2] This signifies the need to learn more from this crime against humanity in relation to World War II in Asia, as well as to consider its relevance to the past and present. The draft adopted on July 14, 2016 added a link to the 2015 “comfort women” agreement from the Japanese MOFA. Since the agreement is presented as “final and irreversible,” it can mislead educators into believing that the matter has been settled unequivocally, while in reality this agreement excluded the views of victims and was made in secret as the Special Task Force of South Korea reported on December 27, 2017.
The final draft of the passage published in 2017 includes links to both the Japanese and South Korean MOFA sites. Placed in the 10th grade 2017 H-SS Framework section 10.8—titled “Causes and Consequences of WWII”—after the question “How was the war mobilized on different fronts?”, it offers an important opportunity to teach students about the devastating impact of WWII in Asia. This topic provides: 1) more comprehensive historical understanding of WWII in different Asian countries, from where many California students’ families originate; 2) awareness of women’s rights and dignity in the context of institutionalized sexual slavery; and 3) examples of the impact of civic engagement, including strengthening the #MeToo movement. Compared to drug and gun trades, which are on a one-time basis, sex trafficking is considered more “profitable” because the victims remain captive and at the mercy of the traffickers’ demands. Consequently, girls and women are extremely vulnerable targets in both armed and non-armed conflict areas. The fact that such inhumane crimes continue to destroy girls’ and women’s lives makes this topic gravely important and critically relevant to teach in today’s classrooms.
Significance of Teaching “Comfort Women” History and Issues
Teaching “comfort women” history is significant because this dark period of state-sanctioned military sexual slavery is a deeply relevant topic rooted in imperialism, human rights violations, violence, discrimination, as well as distortion and denial of history—fundamental problems that echo into today. It was a human tragedy that encompassed widespread human rights violations against women and girls, yet justice has been denied to the survivors. Though the Japanese military sexual slavery system operated before and during WWII, its effects ripple outward to other tragedies of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and non-conflict around the globe.
The basic questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System and the section Central Themes and Research Topics[3] list themes, topics, and questions relevant to the causes and consequences of the Japanese military sexual slavery system along with other various forms of oppresion at the intersection of imperialism, human rights violations, violence, discrimination, and ongoing injustice rooted in distortion and denial of history. Educators can use the Central Themes and Research Topics section as additional materials to plan their lessons, units, or courses.
[1] California Department of Education History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools : Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, (Sacramento, 2017), 1–15.
[2] California Department of Education History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools : Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, (Sacramento, 2017), 353.
[3] ESJF, “Comfort Women” History and Issues, 39–50.
The 2017 California History-Social Science (H-SS) Framework emphasizes several areas: providing greater content knowledge; inquiry-based critical thinking skills in connection with multiple disciplines; stronger literacy skills; and citizenship that promotes human rights and democratic values in the history and social sciences curriculums. In terms of content knowledge, the framework encourages a more inclusive history curriculum, reflective of California’s rich diversity.[1] According to the California History-Social Science Project, a lead author of the new H-SS Framework, 21.6 percent of the total school enrollment in California’s public schools (2012–2013) was classified as English learners. This signifies the necessity of providing students with more content-specific informational texts that are relevant to and reflective of diverse populations.
The 2017 California H-SS Framework includes content on “comfort women.”[2] This signifies the need to learn more from this crime against humanity in relation to World War II in Asia, as well as to consider its relevance to the past and present. The draft adopted on July 14, 2016 added a link to the 2015 “comfort women” agreement from the Japanese MOFA. Since the agreement is presented as “final and irreversible,” it can mislead educators into believing that the matter has been settled unequivocally, while in reality this agreement excluded the views of victims and was made in secret as the Special Task Force of South Korea reported on December 27, 2017.
The final draft of the passage published in 2017 includes links to both the Japanese and South Korean MOFA sites. Placed in the 10th grade 2017 H-SS Framework section 10.8—titled “Causes and Consequences of WWII”—after the question “How was the war mobilized on different fronts?”, it offers an important opportunity to teach students about the devastating impact of WWII in Asia. This topic provides: 1) more comprehensive historical understanding of WWII in different Asian countries, from where many California students’ families originate; 2) awareness of women’s rights and dignity in the context of institutionalized sexual slavery; and 3) examples of the impact of civic engagement, including strengthening the #MeToo movement. Compared to drug and gun trades, which are on a one-time basis, sex trafficking is considered more “profitable” because the victims remain captive and at the mercy of the traffickers’ demands. Consequently, girls and women are extremely vulnerable targets in both armed and non-armed conflict areas. The fact that such inhumane crimes continue to destroy girls’ and women’s lives makes this topic gravely important and critically relevant to teach in today’s classrooms.
- 2017 California History-Social Science (H-SS) Framework Draft Proposed Before July 14, 2016
- 2017 California History-Social Science (H-SS) Framework Draft Adopted Draft on July 14, 2016
- 2017 California History-Social Science (H-SS) Framework Published Draft, June 2017
Significance of Teaching “Comfort Women” History and Issues
Teaching “comfort women” history is significant because this dark period of state-sanctioned military sexual slavery is a deeply relevant topic rooted in imperialism, human rights violations, violence, discrimination, as well as distortion and denial of history—fundamental problems that echo into today. It was a human tragedy that encompassed widespread human rights violations against women and girls, yet justice has been denied to the survivors. Though the Japanese military sexual slavery system operated before and during WWII, its effects ripple outward to other tragedies of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and non-conflict around the globe.
The basic questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System and the section Central Themes and Research Topics[3] list themes, topics, and questions relevant to the causes and consequences of the Japanese military sexual slavery system along with other various forms of oppresion at the intersection of imperialism, human rights violations, violence, discrimination, and ongoing injustice rooted in distortion and denial of history. Educators can use the Central Themes and Research Topics section as additional materials to plan their lessons, units, or courses.
[1] California Department of Education History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools : Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, (Sacramento, 2017), 1–15.
[2] California Department of Education History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools : Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, (Sacramento, 2017), 353.
[3] ESJF, “Comfort Women” History and Issues, 39–50.