WUNRN
European Parliament Adopts Reslution
on Japan & Comfort Women of
World War II Sexual Slavery
The
European Parliament has adopted a resolution on survivors of Japan’s military
sexual slavery system (the so-called ‘comfort women’ system), which urges the
Government of Japan to acknowledge, apologize and compensate the
victims.
Thousands of women, known as ‘comfort women’, were officially commissioned by
the Government of Japan from the 1930s through the duration of the Second World
War for sexual servitude for the armed forces. The full extent of the sexual
slavery system has never been fully disclosed by the Government of Japan though
it is thought that as many as 200,000 women were enslaved. To this day, the
Government of Japan has refused to acknowledge its
responsibility for the crimes committed against former ‘comfort women’.
The ‘comfort women’ system of forced military prostitution allowed for a range
of abuses, such as sexual violence including gang rape and forced
abortions, in one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th
century. Many of the women are now in their 80s and hoping that justice can
still be achieved in their lifetime and have been courageously speaking
out and sharing their experiences.
Gil Won Ok, 79, was born in what is now North Korea. When she was 13 she was
promised factory work, but eventually found herself in a comfort station in
northeast China where she worked as a ‘comfort woman’. Gil caught syphilis and
developed tumors during her work as a ‘comfort woman’ and eventually, a
Japanese military doctor removed her uterus leaving her unable to bear
children.
Gil, who broke her silence in 1998, 53 years after her traumatic experience,
recently gave testimony at the European Parliament. Gil said of the need
to continue campaigning , “the Japanese Government thinks if all ‘comfort women’
die, it will be buried and forgotten…as long as our next generation knows about
it, it will not be forgotten”.
The European Parliament is one of a string of Parliaments taking a stand
against past atrocities calling for the Government of Japan to provide justice
to the survivors of Japan’s military sexual slavery system. Other countries are
considering tabling similar resolutions.
The Government of Japan must act immediately to provide redress to those who
suffered under the ‘comfort women’ system. Many survivors have subsequently
suffered from mental and physical abuse, ill-health, isolation, shame and often
extreme poverty. The Government of Japan must act now to
• Acknowledge full responsibility for the ‘comfort women’
system and publicly apologize to the survivors
• Provide adequate and effective compensation to survivors
and their immediate families
• Publicly denounce sexual violence against women whenever
and wherever it occurs
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