Legal experts and “Comfort Women” movement activists reflect on the 34-year legal struggle to resolve the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” issue.
Editorial Team of Webzine <Kyeol>
In 2022, as a result of Japan’s aggressive diplomacy, UNESCO’s MoW inscription rules were revised to require all documents to be submitted through national governments. Additionally, if a concerned country objects, the application is halted from entering the review process and must instead undergo a so-called “dialogue” procedure. Under these revised rules, any attempt by a victimized country to submit documents related to the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” is likely to be blocked before even reaching the review stage due to Japan’s opposition.
Hye-in Han
Japan’s state-level responsibility for the “comfort women” issue in the context of the country’s history of licensed prostitution system
Song Yeon-ok
Carol Gluck
Written by Paek Sun-haeng, Team Manager, The Museum of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, an affiliate organization of the Daegu Citizen Forum for Halmuni
Paek Sun-haeng
This achievement of historical research will serve as a basis for listening to testimonies in depth beyond the narrow standard of “fact verification.”
Lee Jieun
The data that exists on the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ is classified into several categories. First of all, we have the data produced by the Japanese military, which acted as the principal for the organization and operation of the comfort stations. It is the most accurate data as it was created by the directly involved parties. A considerable amount of data has been unearthed that describes the installation and operation of the comfort stations, allowing us to fully grasp the harsh reality and identify the complete responsibility of the Japanese military. However, a large amount of the data created by the Japanese military have since vanished due to the organized destruction of the pertinent materials, which has made it intrinsically difficult to bring the remaining data to light owing to various circumstances.
Byeongju Hwang
The spread of “Comfort Women” memorials across different cities and countries offers insights into both possibilities and the limits of memory activism, especially in an era when the world continues to confront the legacies of colonialism, racism, and historical injustice.
Dr. Daniel Schumacher
At times, a single poster can speak more powerfully than a hundred-page book. Kyeol had a conversation with New York-based artist Chang-Jin Lee regarding her COMFORT WOMEN WANTED project and how art can shed light on questions of gender, identity, and memory.
Chang-Jin Lee
Until 2022, when the book The Comfort Women of Singapore in History and Memory was published, it was widely thought in Singapore that there were no Singaporean "Comfort Women" who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese military.
Kevin Blackburn
The Asia Pacific Peace Museum in Toronto, one of the few museums outside Asia dedicated to World War II in Asia, offers education that encourages critical reflection on war, memory, and peace.
Flora Mei-Ling Chong
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.
Rochelle G. Saidel
