This article foregrounds the long-overlooked sexual violence perpetrated against Jewish women during the Holocaust. It calls for fuller integration of survivors’ testimonies of sexual violence into our understanding of Holocaust history and prompts recognition of the ongoing reality of conflict-related sexual violence today.
Being simultaneously vulnerable, damaged, in the midst of anger, yet refusing to be consumed by that anger, courageous, and a fighter is the unique struggle of victims. Paradoxically, victims possess a special dignity in the minute possibility of becoming all of these beings at once.
As the history of Women in Black shows, each Women in Black group has its own approach to feminist action, growing out of their local situation, but linked to each other through international theories and conferences.
How has our understanding of “coercion” in forced labor and the Japanese military “Comfort Women” system changed over time? This essay examines the multilayered nature of these issues, moving beyond nationalist narratives and historical denialism toward a broader understanding through the lens of universal human rights.