Basic Questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System
Although the history and issues surrounding “comfort women” can be taught solely as one example of total war and war mobilization, the subject is directly tied to multiple disciplines and grade levels, including the university level. This human tragedy, which the U.N. defines as crimes against humanity, highlights issues of imperialism, discrimination, and the fight against the denial of historical and legal responsibilities held by a state’s military powers. This chilling case of grave violations of human rights must be heeded as a warning against all forms of sexual violence and serves as a valuable teaching resource for the prevention and elimination of sexual violence. Considering the fundamental questions and concerns raised by the history of “comfort women,” this topic extends to critical past and current issues, including the civil rights advocacy of the #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and other instances of sexual violence associated with racial and ethnic discrimination.
Based on the “comfort women” passage in the framework, educators can use the following basic questions to discuss the “comfort women” system. Educators can also use the section Central Themes and Research Topics for additional materials to plan their lessons, units, or courses. The Central Themes and Research Topics section critically examines the causes and consequences of sexual violence perpetrated by the Japanese military sexual slavery system; it also demonstrates how imperialism, discrimination, and the denial of responsibility can lead to human rights violations. Increasing students’ awareness and fundamental understanding of sexual violence will encourage them to think about using power for the greater good, bringing them a step closer to making choices to advocate for peace, justice, and empowerment, both today and tomorrow.
Historical background on “comfort women” history
Primary source documents
secondary source documents
victims’ testimonies
Based on the “comfort women” passage in the framework, educators can use the following basic questions to discuss the “comfort women” system. Educators can also use the section Central Themes and Research Topics for additional materials to plan their lessons, units, or courses. The Central Themes and Research Topics section critically examines the causes and consequences of sexual violence perpetrated by the Japanese military sexual slavery system; it also demonstrates how imperialism, discrimination, and the denial of responsibility can lead to human rights violations. Increasing students’ awareness and fundamental understanding of sexual violence will encourage them to think about using power for the greater good, bringing them a step closer to making choices to advocate for peace, justice, and empowerment, both today and tomorrow.
Historical background on “comfort women” history
Primary source documents
secondary source documents
victims’ testimonies
Who were “comfort women”?
What is the significance of learning this history?
What can we do to promote peace and to prevent war?
- What was their socio-economic status?
- Are the disparities between rich and poor narrowing or widening today? How do these disparities affect society at large?
- How old were they? Were there any minors? What were the international laws pertaining to sex trafficking in the 1930s and 40s?
- What were the living conditions of “comfort women”?
- What values were lacking among the soldiers and leaders who organized and operated the military sexual slavery system? Why do you think these values were absent?
- How did the Japanese government justify its invasion of neighboring countries to its own people?
- What were the actual reasons for their invasion of neighboring countries?
- Depending on the degree of control that the Imperial Japanese government had on each of its neighboring countries, young girls and women were recruited, coerced, conscripted, or forced into military sexual slavery. Various methods—including kidnapping, deceptive recruitment, pressure on families, and human trafficking—were used to operate the military sexual slavery system against international treaties.
- Yoshimi Yoshiaki said that according to the Japanese Armed Forces, “comfort stations” were established to reduce the random sexual assault of villagers in occupied nations, the spread of STIs among soldiers, and espionage, as well as providing comfort to the troops.
- How do patriarchal judgments of female worth factor into the reasoning above?
- How do the experiences of Yazidi and Rohingya women and girls differ from those of Japanese military sex slaves before and during WWII? How are they similar?
- In addition to the military sexual slavery system, what are other war crimes Japan committed against humanity?
- How does war impact human behavior? Consider these key distinctions: history versus propaganda and national chauvinism versus patriotism.
- How do cycles of discrimination, oppression, and violence manifest in war?
- How were various pieces of evidence discovered?
- What is the significance of primary and secondary sources?
- How has the Japanese government taken different positions regarding this history, and what is the Abe administration’s approach?
- How do Japan’s efforts to expunge the identities of those they colonized compare to America’s violence against indigenous people?
- What specific skills do you find most useful to gain a deeper and comprehensive understanding of evidence?
What is the significance of learning this history?
- What other historically unresolved issues continue to affect our local and global communities?
- What is the role of collective activism?
- What is the difference between a political resolution and a human rights resolution?
- What is power? How is it used in politics and in local and global economies?
- What are the challenges in arriving at a shared understanding of history?
- What is the relationship between Hak-Soon Kim’s testimony in 1991 and the #MeToo movement?
What can we do to promote peace and to prevent war?
- What are some of the reasons that countries start and engage in war?
- What does war achieve? Who usually benefits the most? Who usually suffers the most? Other consequences?