Resolving ‘comfort women’ issue as starting point for end to wartime sexual violence

In 1941, 15-year-old Kim Bok-dong left her home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, under pressure from senior village leaders, who had made a sugar-coated proposal about working at a military uniform factory.

Her journey ended after five years of tragedy. Kim was first raped by a Japanese army surgeon after arriving in Guangdong province in China via Shimonoseki and Taiwan. After that she was forced into sexual servitude in “comfort stations” run by the Japanese military in such regions as Guangdong, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia until Korea’s 1945 liberation.

Now at 88, Kim takes part in a protest every Wednesday outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, calling for an apology and compensation from Tokyo. Along with Gil Won-ok, another victim, she announced in March 2012 that if the Japanese government provides indemnities, she would donate her share to women who suffered from sexual violence in conflict. Their pledge inspired many citizens to make donations and eventually led to the inception of the Butterfly Fund. Two months later, Rebecca Masika Katsuva in the Democratic Republic of the Congo became its first beneficiary.

It is common knowledge that sexual violence has long been taking place systematically and collectively as a weapon of war in such places as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia and Rwanda. Sexual violence in conflict, which has been committed as part of genocide, is nothing but a massive stain in the history of civilization in the late 20th to early 21st centuries. The fact that the women who fell prey to systematic sexual violence by the state during World War II stood up 50 years later to support other victims of wartime sexual violence demonstrates that the comfort women tragedy is not an issue of the past but one that still resonates today.

Despite growing calls for a resolution to the problem, the Japanese government remains unwavering, repeating the assertion that its legal responsibilities were cleared through the 1993 Kono Statement and a prime minister’s letter, as well as the 1965 accord on the normalization of bilateral relations. It also argues that it has already fulfilled its moral responsibilities by setting up the Asia Women’s Fund, made consolatory payments and provided medical and welfare support.

But its claims have been dismissed by the international community. In their respective reviews released in July and August, the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture pointed out that the measures taken by Tokyo so far have been inadequate. They recommended for it to undertake fresh investigations, hold the perpetrators accountable, bring justice to the victims and their families, disclose all evidence and provide relevant education to the public. Former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also issued a statement in August calling on Japan to devise a “comprehensive, impartial and lasting resolution” of the sex slavery issue.

The prospects are dim that such recommendations will become reality anytime soon given that the U.N. human rights agency’s views have no binding power and that the current Japanese government and society have backpedalled on the comfort women issue in terms of perspective and attitude. Yet they do pay attention to the voices in the international community. At a U.N. Human Rights Committee session last month, Japanese right-wing groups created a ruckus, upholding Tokyo’s claim that the comfort women system did not constitute sexual slavery.

The comfort women are victims of sexual violence in conflicts like ones that are happening even now around the world. The international community, including U.N. human rights bodies and member states, should make constant efforts to prompt Japan to change course and resolve the longstanding sex slavery issue. Without an end to such grave violations of human rights, more atrocities will occur elsewhere in the future.

By Seo Hyun-ju, Research fellow, Northeast Asian History Foundation