Blog #4

Comfort Women in World War II

Society in general is aware of the impact that war has on participants and takes the steps needed to help them.  This does not go the same with “Comfort women” who were subjected to military sexual slavery.  Comfort women suffered during and after the war and kept silence for a lot of years because they were afraid of the consequences and the Japanese Government deny any involved with the issue.      

            Comfort stations were established by Okamura Yasuji in March 23, 1932.  It was established after Japanese soldiers raped very young girls, elderly women, pregnant women and even corpses in Nanjing, china which became known as the Rape of Nanjing.  Japanese didn’t want reports of Japanese soldiers raping women in occupied territories because that would bring shame to Japan.  Also, they worried about the diseases they might get infected with by raping unknowns or used common prostitutes and in addition women would always be accessible to the soldiers.  The women were forced to submit to medical exams to make sure they didn’t have any disease of infection. 

To get enough women to provide sexual services to millions of Japanese soldiers they kidnapped, persuaded, tricked and forced around 200,000 women into protected facilities known as comfort stations.  Most of the women were from Korea and other Eastern Asian countries like China, Burma, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, Thailand islands in the Pacific.    For the most part the women were between the ages of 12 and 30. 

Comfort women and their families were tricked.  There were advertisements in the Chinese newspaper that called for hostesses between seventeen and twenty eight.  The women were promised payment of more than $150.  Others on their way to school were abducted.  Some were taken from their own homes and if their parents tried to stop them the Japanese soldiers would kill them and still take the girl or woman. Some parents sold their daughters though.       

The Japanese military comfort women were treated ruthlessly.  Victims often became pregnant and they usually miscarriage because of beatings or were forced to abort.  The conditions of where they were being held were horrible.  There was little food, water, sanitary conditions and medical care.  Many died from diseases, infections, abortions, starvation or because of the violence.  They were treated badly treated for numerous reasons like if they didn’t satisfy the soldier, caught diseases or got pregnant, tried to escape or to make an example of them when new women arrived.  They were murdered sexualized for instance by being rape with a broken glass or having guns or fire crackers inserted in their vaginas.    

When survivors returned to their village they were rejected by their own people and were despised as a disgrace to the family.  When survivors returned home they were turn down by their families and friends.  Some women that made it out of the comfort stations alive returned to their villages and the villagers spat on their faces for being comfort women to the Japanese.  Their culture and their families forced them to keep silence. 

Even though the war was over the pain didn’t leave the women that made it out of the comfort stations alive.  Many suffered pain from psychological and physical pain by the rapes.  Some suffered from debilitating diseases because of repeated sexual and physical abuse.  Others suffered from trauma or were sterile because of the drugs they were forced to take by the Japanese Military.  Many survivors couldn’t make love and didn’t want to be touch by any mad even their husbands.  They had feelings of having sinned.       

Through these nearly fifty years one only heard whispers of the issue “comfort women” but now they are speaking up and telling their stories to the world to try to prevent these crimes again.  A lot of women were raped repeatedly for a lot of years by the Japanese military until the Japanese surrendered.  Many died because they were physically abused and for other reasons.  When they returned home they were the ones that sinned and were the disgrace of their families according to their culture and religion.