Comfort women

"Comfort woman" redirects here. For other uses, see Comfort Woman (disambiguation).
For the musical, see Comfort Women: A New Musical. For their depiction in the arts, see comfort women in the arts.
Comfort women
Korean comfort women being questioned by the United States Army after the Siege of Myitkyina, August 14, 1944[1]
Native name Japanese: 慰安婦, ianfu
Date1932–1945
LocationAsia

Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II.[2][3][4][5] The term comfort women is a translation of the Japanese ianfu (慰安婦),[6] a euphemism that literally means "comforting, consoling woman".[7] During World War II, Japanese troops forced hundreds of thousands of women from Australia, Burma, China, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, East Timor, New Guinea and other countries into sexual enslavement for Japanese troops; however, the majority of the women were from Korea.[8] Many women died due to brutal mistreatment and sustained physical and emotional distress. After the war, Japan denied the existence of comfort women, refusing to provide an apology or appropriate restitution, which damaged Japan's reputation in Asia for decades. Only in the 1990s did the Japanese government begin to officially apologize and offer compensation. However, apologies from Japanese officials have been criticized as insincere,[9][10] and Japanese government officials have continued to deny the existence of comfort women.

Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with most historians settling somewhere in the range of 50,000–200,000;[11] the exact numbers are still being researched and debated.[12][13][14]

Originally, the brothels were established to provide soldiers with a sexual outlet, to reduce wartime rape and the spread of venereal diseases.[15] The comfort stations, however, had the reverse effect of what was intended—it increased the amount of rapes and increased the spread of venereal diseases. The first victims were Japanese women, some who were recruited by conventional means, and some who were recruited through deception or kidnapping. The military later turned to women in Japanese colonies, due to lack of Japanese volunteers and the need to protect Japan's image.[16][17] In many cases, women were lured by false job openings for nurses and factory workers.[18] Others were also lured by the promises of equity and sponsorship for higher education.[19] A significant percentage of comfort women were minors.[20]

  1. ^ Psychological Warfare Team Attached to U.S. Army Forces India-Burma Theater (October 1, 1944). Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49 (Report). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2004 – via exordio.com.
  2. ^ The Asian Women's Fund. "Who were the Comfort Women?-The Establishment of Comfort Stations". Digital Museum The Comfort Women Issue and the Asian Women's Fund. The Asian Women's Fund. Archived from the original on August 7, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  3. ^ The Asian Women's Fund. "Hall I: Japanese Military and Comfort Women". Digital Museum The Comfort Women Issue and the Asian Women's Fund. The Asian Women's Fund. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2014. ...'wartime comfort women' were those who were taken to former Japanese military installations, such as comfort stations, for a certain period during wartime in the past and forced to provide sexual services to officers and soldiers.
  4. ^ Argibay 2003
  5. ^ "Special Issue: The 'Comfort Women' as Public History (Table of Contents)". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. March 2021. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  6. ^ Soh 2009, p. 69 "It referred to adult female (fu/bu) who provided sexual services to "comfort and entertain" (ian/wian) the warrior...
  7. ^ "The Origins and Implementation of the Comfort Women System". December 14, 2018. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Ramaj, Klea (February 2022). "The 2015 South Korean–Japanese Agreement on 'Comfort Women': A Critical Analysis". International Criminal Law Review. 22 (3): 475–509. doi:10.1163/15718123-bja10127. S2CID 246922197.
  9. ^ Kuki, Sonya (2013). "The Burden of History: The Issue of "Comfort Women" and What Japan Must do to Move Forward". Journal of International Affairs. 67 (1): 245–256. JSTOR 24461685.
  10. ^ Chang, Jae (May 4, 2019). "Apology Politics: Japan and South Korea's Dispute over Comfort Women". The Cornell Diplomat.
  11. ^ Asian Women's Fund, p. 10
  12. ^ Asian Women's Fund, pp. 10–11
  13. ^ Huang 2012, p. 206 "Although Ianfu came from all regions or countries annexed or occupied by Japan before 1945, most of them were Chinese or Korean. Researchers at the Research Center of the Chinese Comfort Women Issue of Shanghai Normal University estimate that the total number of comfort women at 360,000 to 410,000."
  14. ^ Rose 2005, p. 88
  15. ^ Gottschall, Jonathan (May 2004). "Explaining wartime rape". Journal of Sex Research. 41 (2): 129–36. doi:10.1080/00224490409552221. PMID 15326538. S2CID 22215910. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference deceived was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Yoshimi 2000, pp. 100–101, 105–106, 110–111;
    Fackler 2007-03-06;
    BBC 2007-03-02;
    BBC 2007-03-08;
    Pramoedya 2001.
  20. ^ "Press Conference: Latest research on Japan's military sexual slavery ("comfort women")" (PDF). April 17, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2020.