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        • Introduction
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        • Concerning the Recruitment of Women for Military Comfort Stations
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        • SEATIC Psychological Warfare Bulletin No. 182
        • G-3 Daily Dairy
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        • Research Report No. 120: Amenities in the Japanese Armed Forces
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        • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
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      • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
      • 2017 CA H-SS Framework
      • Lesson Plans >
        • ​Reality and trauma of military sexual slavery
        • Denial of legal and historical responsibility
        • ​Remembering and honoring "comfort women"
        • Sex trafficking
        • Collective activism
        • Contemporary movements towards justice
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      • YouTube >
        • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
        • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
        • Animation Herstory
        • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
        • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
        • Justice for the victims of the Japanese military “comfort women” system
        • Wednesday Rally
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PictureHak-Soon Kim (1924 – 1997), first victim to testify in public on August 14, 1991, speaking at the Wednesday Rally in 1996 - Photo credit: The Korean Council (from exhibition Truth & Justice: Remembering “Comfort Women”)
​The term “comfort women,” which was used when recruiting young girls and women, is a translation of Japanese “ianfu (慰安婦).” Referring to Japanese military sex slaves as “comfort women” is a distortion because it disguises the darkness and inhumanity of their reality. In fact, survivor Yong-Soo Lee (Korea, b.1928) refuses to be referred to as a former “comfort woman.” The “comfort” was meant only for the Japanese imperial soldiers, not for the sex slaves themselves. However, since the Japanese military sex slaves are most commonly referred to as “comfort women,” this term is used on this website, enclosed in quotes to indicate its dehumanizing nature.
 
 “Comfort women” were the victims of a military sexual slavery system initiated, operated, and expanded by the Japanese Imperial Army from the 1930s until the end of WWII.[1] During that timespan, this system forced over 200,000 girls and women[2] from at least thirteen Asian countries into sexual slavery. The first known “comfort station” was established in Shanghai in 1932, and after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the number of comfort stations multiplied.[3] As Chung-Ok Yun (b.1925), Professor Emeritus at Ewha Women’s University, stated, the term “a women’s labor corps” was used instead of “comfort women” in forcibly recruiting girls and women.
 
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, or forced into the 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.[4] Though those who survived their enslavement were freed at the end of WWII, most remained silent about their experiences for several decades.

On August 14, 1991, Hak-Soon Kim (1924 -1997) made the first public testimony as a former “comfort woman." Her testimony began with her statement, “저는 일본 군대 ‘위안부’로 끌려갔던 김학순 입니다” (“I am Hak-Soon Kim, forcibly taken as a ‘comfort woman’ for the Japanese military”). It paved a way for the victims to come forward and to unite the victims and their supporters, thus beginning the international movement for peace and women’s rights. 
 

[1] On the Issue of Wartime “Comfort Women.” Cabinet Councillor’s Office on External Affairs of Japan. August 4, 1993. https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/postwar/issue9308.html

[2] Qui, Peipei, and Su Zhiliang. Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan’s Sex Slaves, Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 37-39.

[3] Norma Caroline. The Japanese Comfort Women and Sexual Slavery during the China and Pacific Wars, Bloomsbury, 2017, p.19.

[4]Yoshiaki, Yoshimi. Comfort Women, Columbia University Press, 2000, pp. 155 -160.  

Introduction
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​                     
​Eric Mar's Chronology

Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
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Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
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  • Home
    • About Us >
      • About Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School >
        • ESJF Statement: “After ‘Lack of Freedom of Expression?’” Shut Down to Suppress Freedom of Expression
        • Letter to Aichi Prefectural Triennale Promotion Office
    • Contact Us
    • Blog
    • ESJF in the News
  • Topics
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Historical Background
      • YouTube
      • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
      • Peace Girl Statue
      • Workshop and Lecture Request
    • Medical Atrocities in Asia & Medical Ethics
    • EARLY HISTORY OF THE ASIAN DIASPORA IN CALIFORNIA
  • Educator Resources
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Historical Background >
        • Introduction
        • Eric Mar's Chronology
        • Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
        • Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
      • Primary Source Documents >
        • Concerning the Recruitment of Women for Military Comfort Stations
        • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Report No. 49
        • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Bulletin No. 2
        • SEATIC Psychological Warfare Bulletin No. 182
        • G-3 Daily Dairy
        • CBI Roundup
        • Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) No. 470
        • Research Report No. 120: Amenities in the Japanese Armed Forces
        • Photos
      • Secondary Source Documents/ Further Resources >
        • Secondary Resource References
        • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
        • International Joint Statement, October 6, 2018
        • International Joint Statement, March 1, 2019
        • International Joint Statement, July 2019
      • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
      • 2017 CA H-SS Framework
      • Lesson Plans >
        • ​Reality and trauma of military sexual slavery
        • Denial of legal and historical responsibility
        • ​Remembering and honoring "comfort women"
        • Sex trafficking
        • Collective activism
        • Contemporary movements towards justice
      • Worksheets
      • Activity Sheets
      • YouTube >
        • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
        • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
        • Animation Herstory
        • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
        • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
        • Justice for the victims of the Japanese military “comfort women” system
        • Wednesday Rally
      • Workshop and Lecture Request
    • Medical Atrocities in Asia & Medical Ethics >
      • Primary Source Documents
      • Secondary Source Documents/ Further Resources
      • Video Footage for Classroom
      • Appendices
      • Workshop and Lecture Request
    • Early History of the Asian Diaspora in California >
      • China
      • Japan
      • Korea
      • Philippines
      • Vietnam
      • Workshop and Lecture Request
  • Our Publications
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues: Teacher Edition >
      • How to Order
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues: Student Edition >
      • How to Order
    • Medical Atrocities in Asia and Medical Ethics >
      • How to Order
  • Professional Development Events
  • Partners
  • Give