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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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              • Resolution 158-25A1
            • Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
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          • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, April 21, 2021
          • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, January 8, 2021
          • International Joint Statement, August 14, 2019
          • International Joint Statement, March 1, 2019
          • International Joint Statement, October 6, 2018
          • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
        • Reflections on Collective Activism in SF >
          • Reflection and Chronology: Eric Mar
          • Reflection: Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
          • Reflection: Sung Sohn
        • International "Comfort Women" Day >
          • 30th Anniversary of Kim Hak-Soon Halmoni's public testimony >
            • Kim Hak-Soon Halmoni
        • 2000 Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement
        • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
        • UNESCO and the "Voices of the 'Comfort Women'" >
          • Timeline
          • 2021 Youth Artwork Competition
          • 2021 Young Adult Online Campaign
        • Historic Lawsuits related to Japanese military sexual slavery before and during WWII >
          • Sung Sohn's Essay with commentaries and statement
        • YouTube >
          • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
          • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
          • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
          • Meet Estelita Dy: A Filipino "Comfort Woman" Survivor
          • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
          • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
        • Wednesday Demonstration
        • Peace Statue
      • Sexual and medical violence against Black Americans >
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2023 January & February Newsletter

2/23/2023

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https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?u=a95b347fa485bbf2183d2e4dd&id=3b6329b6de
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UNA-USA 2023 Global Engagement Summit

2/17/2023

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With the theme, “Empowered and Emboldened for Impact,” this year’s UNA-USA Global Engagement Summit was held on Feb. 17 in the General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York. The topics discussed at the summit included fortifying the US-UN relationship, delivery of humanitarian aid, protecting human rights, meeting sustainable development goals, and maintaining international peace and security.
​
As a civil society organization supporting and participating in UN NGO platforms, ESJF supports and works with the International Alliance of Women (IAW), USA-UNA, and NGO the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). 
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Visit to Lowell High School

2/10/2023

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Instagram screenshot
​On Feb. 10, Sung taught a class at Lowell High School in San Francisco on the topic of the impacts of civic engagement on local history. By examining the Osaka mayor terminating sister-city ties with San Francisco in 2018, students were engaged in the discussion, which highlighted the civic engagement in both Osaka and San Francisco. The discussion also covered the collective efforts to preserve the history of “comfort women,” advance women’s human rights, and counter all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.  
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2022 ESJF Student Art Competition ​at Chiba Korean Elementary and Middle School

12/16/2022

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ESJF is delighted to announce the results of the 2022 ESJF Chiba Elementary and Middle School Student Art Competition. At ESJF’s second student art contest at Chiba Korean Elementary and Middle School in Japan, four 9th grade students’ artwork, using only black ink, were selected--A Road to Our Common Ideal, With One Button, Holding Hands for a Peaceful World and Things to Leave Behind. To read the artists’ notes on their paintings, click here. Like many Korean schools in Japan, this school has been experiencing state-sanctioned educational injustices based on ethnicity. To learn about Chiba Korean Elementary and Middle School, click here. 
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2022: The Year in Review

12/13/2022

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​https://mailchi.mp/f2ca3b0161e8/2022-year-in-review?e=9909c84291
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Respect for Marriage Act Signed Today

12/13/2022

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ESJF welcomes the Respect for Marriage Act being signed into law, which codifies the protection of same-sex marriage. 
Watch live: Biden signs marriage equality bill, The Hillhttps://thehill.com/homenews/3773207-watch-live-biden-signs-marriage-equality-bill/
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Documentary ワタシタチハニンゲンダ!We Are Human! by Chanyu Ko

10/10/2022

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​Director Chanyu Ko (see below for his brief bio and his first documentary) released his second documentary, We are Human! (ワタシタチハニンゲンダ!) Using the decades-old unjust policy forced on Korean descendants living in Japan as a background, this documentary exposes the abusive practice of Japan’s policy on undocumented people from multiple countries, including the Philippines, Brazil, India, Ghana, Iran, Nigeria, and Cambodia. At various immigration bureaus in Japan, many are faced with a violation of human rights and negligence, often resulting in death and trauma. Centered on the universal declaration of human rights, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, this documentary lifts the voices of those who believe in and are fighting to protect this fundamental principle. The film is being played in theaters in Japan and will be played at the Pusan Peace Film Festival from Oct. 27–30.
​
Director Chanyu Ko provided ESJF with a Vimeo URL so that interested people can watch this film for free. Contact Sung at sung@e4sjf.org if you’d like to view this documentary.
------------
About Director Chanyu Ko, 髙 賛侑
Chanyu Ko is a lecturer at Sonoda Women’s University, Director of Life Image Work, and an executive member of Freedom Journalist Club in Japan. Throughout his career in academia, Ko has published books on educational injustice based on racial discrimination. He decided to make his first documentary Korean Schools in Japan (アイたちの学校, 아이들의 학교, 2018) when, on Sept. 13, 2017, a Tokyo court ruled to deny tuition waivers to students at Korean high schools in Tokyo despite the fact that tuition waivers cover most high schools in the country. On Oct. 30, 2018, a Japanese high court finalized its ruling in favor of the Japanese government’s decision to exclude Korean schools from the tuition waiver program. Ko made this film hoping to raise awareness about state-organized educational discrimination in Japan. 
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S. Korean Supreme Court Ruling on Former U.S. Military "Comfort Women"

9/30/2022

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Gijichon Women's Peace Museum_Seven Sisters (left) and Sunlit Sisters' Center (right)
Sept. 29, 2022
Photo credit: Soon Duk Woo
On Sept. 29, 2022, South Korea’s highest court ordered the state to pay compensation to women who were forced or coerced into the military sex trade in the so-called “camptowns” or Gijichon (기지촌) that developed around U.S. military bases. Recognizing the state’s responsibility for encouraging and justifying the military sex trade, the court ordered the state to pay between 3 million and 7 million won (approximately $2,100–$4,900) in compensation each to a total of 95 former Gijichon women.

The former
Gijichon women sued the government for coordinating the sex trade for the U.S. military. They were kept locked into the camptown sex trade, resulting in irrevocable physical and psychological suffering. The government forced these women to register as U.S. military “comfort women” and submit routine STD testing results, even going so far as to mobilize public health workers and the police to forcibly quarantine those who refused to be tested. As their official documents indicate, from the 1950s to 1980s, both the South Korean and U.S. governments referred to these Gijichon women as “comfort women.” The euphemistic term “comfort women” was first used to refer to Japanese military sex slaves taken from many parts of Asia before and during WWII.


​However, unlike Japanese military sex slaves euphemistically referred to as “comfort women,” U.S. military “comfort women” did not garner much attention in South Korea. In the case of Japanese military “comfort women,” the survivors filed lawsuits beginning in 1992, a year after Hak-soon Kim publicly testified about her experience as a Japanese military sex slave. Although the perpetrators of both Japanese military “comfort women” and U.S. military “comfort women” were governments and men,
Gijichon women didn’t sue for compensation until 2014.


Both the U.S. and South Korea contributed to the existence of the U.S. military “comfort women” system.

In its ruling, the South Korean Supreme Court stated, “The government’s formation and operation of the military base villages, and encouraging and justifying prostitution inside them, constitute a violation of the duty to honor human rights.” The court added that, “These actions correspond to a violation of human rights under the Framework Act on Settling Past Issues for Truth and Reconciliation (2005). Therefore, a request for the state to pay damages for those actions is not subject to the statute of limitations.” The court ordered the South Korean government to pay 7 million won to the women who were kept in “monkey houses” while paying the rest 3 million won. Though there were initially 122 women who filed suit in 2014, the number dwindled to 95 after 24 died of old age and two withdrew from the lawsuit. 72-year-old Suk-ja Kim, a natural-born Korean, said she finally feels that she is a legitimate South Korean citizen.
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August and September Newsletter

9/28/2022

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https://mailchi.mp/95d930e26b2d/august-and-september-newsletter?e=[UNIQID]
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ESJF at USF graduate seminar, San Francisco

9/20/2022

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​On Sept. 20, as a guest lecturer, Sung Sohn discussed preserving the history of the Japanese military sexual slavery system in the face of opposition at a University of San Francisco graduate seminar. Russ Lowe, ESJF co-founder who was actively involved in the San Francisco “comfort women” memorial installation, shared the background on selecting the memorial site. During the discussion, examples of a pan-Asian effort were mentioned and emphasized. Discussion participants’ insightful comments and questions made the seminar thoroughly engaging.
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  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Social Justice Education
      • Advocacy >
        • International Community Outreach >
          • Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School >
            • Our First Advocacy
            • ESJF Student Art Competition
            • ESJF Statement: “After ‘Lack of Freedom of Expression?’” Shut Down to Suppress Freedom of Expression
            • Letter to Aichi Prefectural Triennale Promotion Office
          • Days for Girls International
        • Civil Society
    • Blog
    • Interviews and articles
  • Educator Resources
    • Sexual and Gender-based Violence >
      • Japanese military sexual slavery system >
        • Brief Historical Background
        • Lesson Plans and Worksheets >
          • ​In Their Own Words
          • Resistance & Collective activism
          • Denial of legal and historical responsibility
          • ​Remembering and honoring "comfort women"
          • Global plague
          • Contemporary movements towards justice
          • Worksheets
          • Puzzles
        • 2017 CA H-SS Framework >
          • Basic questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System
        • Map of "Comfort Women" Memorials in the United States
        • Survivors' Testimonies & Legacies >
          • Korea
          • China
          • Philippines
          • Indonesia
          • Japan
          • Netherlands
        • Primary Source Documents: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
          • 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
          • C.B.I. Roundup
          • Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) No. 470
          • Research Report No. 120: Amenities in the Japanese Armed Forces
          • San Francisco Local History >
            • Resolutions >
              • Resolution 158-25A1
            • Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
          • Images
        • Secondary Source Documents and ESJF Statements >
          • Secondary Resource References
          • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, April 21, 2021
          • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, January 8, 2021
          • International Joint Statement, August 14, 2019
          • International Joint Statement, March 1, 2019
          • International Joint Statement, October 6, 2018
          • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
        • Reflections on Collective Activism in SF >
          • Reflection and Chronology: Eric Mar
          • Reflection: Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
          • Reflection: Sung Sohn
        • International "Comfort Women" Day >
          • 30th Anniversary of Kim Hak-Soon Halmoni's public testimony >
            • Kim Hak-Soon Halmoni
        • 2000 Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement
        • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
        • UNESCO and the "Voices of the 'Comfort Women'" >
          • Timeline
          • 2021 Youth Artwork Competition
          • 2021 Young Adult Online Campaign
        • Historic Lawsuits related to Japanese military sexual slavery before and during WWII >
          • Sung Sohn's Essay with commentaries and statement
        • YouTube >
          • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
          • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
          • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
          • Meet Estelita Dy: A Filipino "Comfort Woman" Survivor
          • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
          • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
        • Wednesday Demonstration
        • Peace Statue
      • Sexual and medical violence against Black Americans >
        • Lesson Plans >
          • Medical Experimentation on Enslaved Women
          • Nurse Rivers
      • Conflict-related SGBV in Tigray and Afghanistan
      • Reports and Papers on SGBV & Gender Justice
    • History of and Issues Surrounding Asian Diaspora in the United States >
      • ESJF >
        • 19th Century >
          • Lesson Plans
        • 20th Century >
          • Lesson Plans
        • Today >
          • Lesson Plans
      • TACT >
        • K-5
        • 6-8
        • 9-12
      • Facing History and Ourselves
      • Fred T. Korematsu Institute
      • San Francisco Asian Art Museum
      • Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
    • Medical Atrocities and Use of Banned Weapons >
      • United States >
        • Lesson Plans
      • Asia >
        • Lesson Plans
        • Video Footage for Classroom
        • Primary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
        • Secondary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
      • Europe >
        • Lesson Plans
    • Resistance and Collective Activism >
      • U.S. Slavery
      • Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
  • ESJF Publications
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Teacher Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
      • Student Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
    • Medical Atrocities and Use of Banned Weapons
  • ESJF Professional Development opportunities
  • Get Involved
    • Join Our Email List
    • Donate
    • Contact Us >
      • Workshop and Lecture Request