Justice for the "Comfort Women"

by Christy Anderson Brekken, WAMM

Over 200,000 victims of atrocities committed during World War II have never received an apology or reparations because they were young, they are women, they are poor, and the atrocities committed against them were of a sexual nature.

The Japanese military instituted a system of sexual slavery during World War II to increase troop morale and to keep public atrocities like the rape of Nanking from happening again. Their solution was to kidnap over 200,000 women, 80 percent of whom were Korean, and force them into sexual slavery in "comfort stations." It is estimated that only 20 to 30 percent of these women survived. Those that did survive were scarred for life, unable to return to their families because of the shame of having been raped. Only a few hundred of these women are alive today.

In 1990, Chung-ok Yun co-founded the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Sexual Slavery by Japan. With her support, several former "comfort women" spoke out publicly for the first time about their experiences. They have held vigil outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday since January 1992#one of the world's longest running vigils. (Please see the event listed in the sidebar on this page.)

Rep. Lane Evans (Dem., IL) has introduced a resolution calling on Japan to apologize and pay reparations to the "comfort women." Urge your representatives to cosponsor this bill (Congressional switchboard: 202-224-1111).