Taiwan’s last ‘comfort woman’ dies: The history of World War II sex slaves

Taiwan on Tuesday announced that its last ‘comfort woman’ has passed away. The survivor, known only as ‘grandma’, died on 10 May at age 92. “The ‘comfort woman’ issue is a wound in human history and the government has attached great importance to the dignity and welfare of former Taiwanese (survivors),” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jeff Liu said on Tuesday. But what are ‘comfort women?’ Let’s take a closer look: Origins of term According to BBC,  the term ‘comfort women’ has been given to people that were forced to work as sex slaves by the Japanese Army during World War II. The term comes from the Japanese word ianfu – which combines the Chinese characters “comfort or solace” (i-an) and woman (fu) Imperial Japan, which occupied among other places Korea, China, the Philippines and Taiwan, forced around 200,000 women into sex slavery between in 1932 and 1945.

Of these, an estimated 2,000 were from Taiwan.

A United Nations report said such brothels “seem to have been found wherever the Japanese army was based.” According to History.com, while Japan had brothels for its military since 1932, they became widespread after its troops destroyed the Chinese city of Nanking and raped between 20,000 and 80,000 Chinese women. – also known as the Rape of Nanking. It was Emperor Hirohito, keeping in mind Japan’s reputation in the aftermath of the Rape of Nanking, who ordered an increase in such military brothels. The aim behind it was to avoid a repeat of such incidents, prevent the outbreak of disease among troops and satiate the appetite of Japanese soldiers. The military, which set up hundreds of such brothels, set the tariffs, service hours and hygiene standards. Initially, some were adult prostitutes or women from poor Japanese families, historians say. But according to NPR, Japan’s troops kidnapped or tricked many of the women and girls into working in the brothels. Recruiters resorted to “deception … violence and outright coercion,” according to the United Nations report. Brutal stories come to light after decades The ‘comfort women’ faced brutal conditions, as per History.com. “It was not a place for humans,” one survivor told Deutsche Welle in 2013. “There was no rest, ” another recalled.

“They had sex with me every minute.”

The Diplomat, quoting from a Japanese military regulation on comfort women said one woman was assigned to 100 soldiers. [caption id=“attachment_12638292” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Protesters hold pictures of “comfort women” and of Japan’s then prime minister Shinzo Abe outside Japan’s de facto embassy in Taipei in 2018. File image/Reuters[/caption] On holidays or prior to a battle, each woman would sexually service 70 to 80 troops. Around 90 per cent of “comfort women” did not survive World War II. The few that survived did not give voice to their trauma for decades. Such stories only became widespread in the early 1990s after lawsuits were filed against Japan seeking accountability and financial compensation, as per NPR. A South Korean woman was the first to step forward and was later joined by some others. Of the 239 South Korean women who officially registered themselves as comfort women, to obtain subsidies and benefits, few remain alive. Experts believe many others have never come forward. Critics say Japan reticent to take full responsibility Japan itself only acknowledged the plight of the survivors in 1993, as per Smithsonian Magazine. The government in 1995 established the Asian Women’s Fund to compensate the survivors – each victim would get two million yen (Rs 12 lakh) and a letter of apology from the then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama.

Some take issue with the term itself.

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Manila-based attorney Romel Bagares, who has these survivors for over a decade and a half, told NPR it “hides the untold abuse the victims suffered under the Japanese Imperial Army and denies the victims the dignity they deserve.” Women’s rights advocates want the term to be renamed “survivors of the wartime female slavery system.” Japan’s wartime enslavement of women is a politically charged issue across Asia. In August 2018, Taiwan erected its first public statue paying tribute to “comfort women”. The statue – showing a girl with her arms raised in defiance – caused tension between the two countries, as per Smithsonian Magazine. Taiwan earlier opened a museum dedicated to survivors. [caption id=“attachment_12638302” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Taiwan’s former pesident Ma Ying-jeou (4th L) and former comfort woman Chen Lien-hua (4th R) attend a ceremony unveiling the nameplate of a museum dedicated to Taiwan’s “comfort women” on International Women’s Day, in Taipei, Taiwan in 2016. File image/Reuters[/caption] While the Japanese government has acknowledged past atrocities, critics say officials throughout the decades have refused to take full responsibility for the enslavement of women. The Japanese government has insisted the victims were recruited by civilians to military brothels that were commercially operated. In 2015, Japan and South Korea reached an agreement to resolve differences between the term. While the two foreign ministers at the time read a statement together and the countries agreed to solve the issue “finally and irreversibly”, Abe took another tack to the National Assembly, as per To procure enough women to meet the demands of the army, recruiters resorted to “deception … violence and outright coercion,” according to the report.

“There was no document found that the comfort women were forcibly taken away,” Abe was quoted as saying.

Nine months later, South Korea asked Abe for a letter of apology – to which he replied, “I have no intention of apologising again.” The issue has sparked protests in Taiwan, with women’s groups lobbying for compensation for its survivors – something only South Korea has formally received. Japan paid survivors in South Korea a billion yen, as per The Diplomat. In Taiwan, which Japan ruled from 1895-1945, nearly 60 women had come forward over the years as survivors, according to Taipei’s Women’s Rescue Foundation. The foundation said even after the death of the last “grandma” they will continue to demand that Japan compensate victims. “Although all the grandmas have passed away, we believe that their spirit will remain in our hearts forever,” the group said, vowing to advocate for the history of Taiwanese survivors to be included in school books. “This piece of history will not disappear due to the death of the grandmas.” “(The government) has continued to express concerns to the Japanese government… and urge the Japanese side to face our demand to apologise and compensate Taiwanese ‘comfort women’ and their families,” Liu added. ‘Comfort women’ after WWII In fact, the practice of ‘comfort women’ didn’t end with just World War II. The country after surrender set up a similar system for American troops.

This, with tacit approval from the US occupation authorities.

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A 2007 review of historical documents and records, some never before translated into English, found that American authorities at the time permitted the official brothel system to operate despite internal reports that women were being coerced into prostitution. The Americans by then also had full knowledge by then of Japan’s atrocious treatment of women in countries across Asia that it conquered during the war. Tens of thousands of women were employed to provide cheap sex to US troops until the spring of 1946, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur shut the brothels down. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.