Critical conclusion: About comfort women in history

    I always think that one of the functions of history is to know the present. It's good to learn from the film or different victims themselves about comfort women. However, there is a point that needs to be clarified in order to support the victims of such slavery. Some of the aggressors back then claimed that comfort women were voluntarily offered to perform these acts and live this kind of life because they were very hungry during the war. However, I would like to believe that the forced occupy the majority. From my personal view, the behavior against comfort women is abhorrent and inhumane, but historically, every war is accompanied by the rape of women and the killing of people, whether it advertises revolution or democracy. Therefore, comfort women are a group of victims, a national crime committed by the Japanese army to force women from China, North Korea, Southeast Asian countries, and a few European countries to act as their sexual slaves. Comfort women are the second historical event in the history of the world that tramples and ravages women so much. No person chooses to live a life where their freedom is dismissed and they are hurt and raped constantly. Therefore, even if they were forced from the very beginning or manipulated through lies into this barbaric trap, this is unacceptable and we should make these facts known worldwide. As for the problem of comfort women itself, it is an imbalance between men and women in a special environment, which is also a problem that many rulers worry about.

Figure 2. Limited, A. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2021, from https://www.alamy.com/nanjing-china-18th-sep-2020-residents-and-tourists-visit-the-exhibition-hall-of-liji-xiang-comfort-station-a-branch-of-the-memorial-hall-for-the-victims-of-the-nanjing-massacre-by-japanese-invaders-in-nanjing-east-chinas-jiangsu-province-the-exhibition-hall-on-the-former-site-of-nanjing-liji-xiang-comfort-station-is-the-first-memorial-hall-on-the-chinese-mainland-with-the-theme-of-comfort-women-through-more-than-1600-exhibits-more-than-400-panels-and-more-than-680-photos-the-exhibition-hall-reveals-the-brutal-trampling-of-human-nature-by-japanese-militarism-during-world-wa-image374785263.html

Huang Youliang

Huang Youliang, a woman who was born in 1929,  was one of the comfort women during the Japanese invasion.

In October 1941, the 15-year-old Huang was raped when Japanese troops invaded her hometown. She was later put into a brothel and forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers for two years.

In July 2001, Huang and seven other comfort women sued the Japanese government, demanding an apology. But for more than a decade, Japanese courts have repeatedly rejected their appeals, claiming that individuals have no right to sue a state.

The Japanese government has refused to accept legal responsibility for women (1).

In her later years, Huang Youliang participated in the shooting of the documentary twenty-two. In the documentary, the picture of Huang Youliang appeared once. Guo Ke, the director of the movie, said during that time, a group of shots was taken, and later the film was introduced in the form of fragments."

This is because, on August 12, 2017, Huang Youliang died. She died before the documentary about her story was released. There are only 8 of them now, out of 22, that was filmed. In the end, she didn't get the apology she longed for most of her life.

Reference:

1. 刘珊珊. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2021, from https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-08/14/content_30575267.htm

Documentary “Twenty-Two”

    “Twenty-two” is a documentary about the very innocent "comfort women" victims and their sufferings during the Japanese War of aggression against China. It was directed by Ke Guo, a sensitive artist who decided to shed light on this dark subject in order to ease those women’s burden and also to protect future generations as well. The film unfolds the experience of 22 survivors and previous "comfort women" in mainland China. It shows their living conditions in the series and it includes the oral statements of individual elderly people who were previously Comfort Women as well as of people who had cared for them and even helped them or just knew them back then and gave testimonies. The film includes descriptions of their suffering, which are the recorded testimonies of real people on true events. Consequently, the film has proven to be of great historical significance. We can see that the directors responsibly report the events with strict standards, with historical pictures but not fictional plots, because their own existence goes beyond the image（1,2,3）ad the story was based on reality spoken through the mouths of the victims themselves.

    We know that during World War II, "comfort women" in China and other countries, as a vulnerable group plundered for freedom and health, most of them did not taste "liberation" even after Japan's surrender. They suffered all kinds of hardships and abuse during the war. However, when they returned to their hometown after those hardships, what was waiting for them was not sympathy, but endless discrimination, insult, and exclusion. People labeled them through their own subjectivity. In some ordinary people's minds, they were shameful. But they carried the past that others wouldn’t have the courage to face.

Video 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQcQAGS7w3Y&t=122s

Reference

1. Jenkins, M. (2017, September 07). 'Twenty Two' looks at the legacy of rape, torture and imprisonment of WWII's 'comfort women'. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/twenty-two-looks-at-the-legacy-of-rape-torture-and-imprisonment-of-wwiis-comfort-women/2017/09/07/d4829e12-8f34-11e7-84c0-02cc069f2c37_story.html?utm_term=.34057fab9f81
2. Kotzathanasis, P., Kotzathanasispanos.kotzathanasispkotzathanasisPKotzathanasis, P., Panos.kotzathanasis, Pkotzathanasis, PKotzathanasis, & Panos KotzathanasisMy name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid. (2020, December 03). Documentary Review: Twenty Two (2015) by Ke Guo. Retrieved from https://asianmoviepulse.com/2020/12/documentary-review-twenty-two-2015-by-ke-guo/
3. Palmer, S., About the author Stephen Palmer Millionaire Playboy by day, Author, A. T., Stephen Palmer Millionaire Playboy by day, & Read all posts by Stephen Palmer. (2017, October 02). Twenty Two. Retrieved from https://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/twenty-two

Who were the Comfort Women?

    'Comfort Women’ refers to a system of sexual slavery implemented by the Japanese government and its army during World War II to successfully implement and complete the war of aggression against Asia. Most 'Comfort' women come from China, South Korea, and the Philippines. In addition, there are also some of them from different Asian countries and regions such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam (1,2).

    The number of women involved is roughly estimated to be as high as 200,000, However, we don't know about the actual number, it may as well be much higher. This is due to the fact that many identities of the Comfort Women might be unknown either because they have died or because no one knew they were exploited in this way, maybe their relatives thought they were missing in the war. Furthermore, many historians believe that Japan achieved its purpose mainly by luring and forcing women. Therefore, primarily force was used to make these women obey and possibly also emotional manipulation, in the beginning, to lead them into this slavery.     The process is crucial and inhuman since women were detained in brothels called "comfort houses". These houses had the purpose of improving the morale and daily spirit of Japanese soldiers. Ostensibly to reduce random sexual assault but, in fact, such women usually lived in harsh conditions under which they are constantly raped, and if they resisted, they were being beaten or murdered (3).     The case study of 'Comfort Women’ has always been a major historical issue. It has affected most Asian women and has had deep consequences and caused a lot of pain to those women and their families. The reason why sometimes being a Comfort Woman was experienced, as reported, as worse than being dead, was that their human rights were constantly violated and the pain was inflicted on their bodies, their emotions, their morale, and their dignity (2).     In the last decades, survivors of the "Comfort Women" exploitation system have not fully shared their stories yet and also not all of them wish to reveal their identities and share these hurtful memories. They hide this shameful and painful experience from the outside world out of post-traumatic stress and shame-although they do not deserve it either. But thankfully, by the early 1990s, the details of their experiences began to surface in a series of lawsuits against Japan. This is because they wanted Japan to publicly apologize and make economic compensation for their pain(1). Consequently, they agreed to testify. That was the beginning of the world listening to their stories which, sometimes, were unknown even to their relatives.

Figure 1. (Blakemore, E. (2018, February 20). The Brutal History of Japan's 'Comfort Women'. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/comfort-women-japan-military-brothels-korea)

Reference:

1. Comfort women. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/comfort-women
2. McCarthy, J., & Meyer, P. B. (2020, December 04). PHOTOS: Why These World War II Sex Slaves Are Still Demanding Justice. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/04/940819094/photos-there-still-is-no-comfort-for-the-comfort-women-of-the-philippines
3. Teaching about the Comfort Women during World War II and the Use of Personal Stories of the Victims. (2020, April 29). Retrieved from https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/teaching-about-the-comfort-women-during-world-war-ii-and-the-use-of-personal-stories-of-the-victims/