Countering sexual and gender-based violence:
“Comfort Women” History and Issues
The term “comfort women” is a euphemism referring to the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery established and operated by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces in their occupied territories from the 1930s through the end of WWII in 1945. When addressing sexual and gender-based violence, a grave violation of human rights, we apply lessons learned from the dark history of the Japanese military’s sexual slavery system before and during WWII.
Background: While stationed in China from 1937 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Murase documented the horrors of war through photography. In his book, My China Front, he included close to two hundred photos, voicing his opposition to the war and condemning the atrocities the Japanese government committed against civilians and soldiers.
Location: Hankou, China
Photographer: Moriyasu Murase
Source: Murase, Moriyasu. My China Front, Japan, 1987.
Location: Hankou, China
Photographer: Moriyasu Murase
Source: Murase, Moriyasu. My China Front, Japan, 1987.
