But when you see those women, old and wrinkled, gray hair and teary eyes, reminding you of your grandmother, you just can’t stand it. It’s heartbreaking and sickening.
Comfort women were used as sexual slaves by the Japanese army during the Second World War. They were mainly from Korea and China (and other territories under Japanese occupation), and they were forced into prostitution. Numbers vary, but it is estimated that there were between 10 000 and 200 000 of them.
Some young women were kidnapped and directly taken to brothels, while others were offered some tempting work at a (fictive) factory, later to be forced into sexual slavery.
Aside from being raped by countless soldiers, day after day, those young women were also victims of torture, beatings and other physical abuse.
The Japanese government, in the hope that it would improve the morale and effectiveness of the soldiers, sponsored the brothels. Yes, forcing young women into sex does give a man enough strength to kill other men. It was like an orgy of good deeds eh! Seriously. You’ve got to be kidding me.
The testimonies found online are devastating – from young women being systematically beaten and raped day and night, to girls not old enough to be menstruated yet being kidnapped and raped into the so-called “comfort stations”
These young women are now elderly. Most of them live in some kind of shelter for Comfort Women and they’ve basically lost their life to this tragic experience. They are poor, hurten and helpless. They live together and try to forget, but they can’t. They can only forgive.
Only to forgive such a horrible experience, one needs an apology. And that’s what’s unbelievable: over 60 years later, the Japanese government still hasn’t apologized.
Worse: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe actually said (!!)"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion."
Shinzo is basically saying that these Chinese and Korean women flew to Japan during wartime and prostituted themselves. That they agreed to have sex over and over and over and over, night and day, out of consent.
Did I mention many of them got pregnant too? Just like the Rwandan genocide (and oh so many others), a child, a beautiful being that should bring joy to this world, is nothing but a daily reminder of excruciating pain and sorrow. Bravo.
I just can’t imagine how these women, over 80 years old now, must feel. Hopeless. Helpless. What the hell is that matter with the world? It’s such a cruel and cold place.
From BBC News (and more on youtube.com):
Ref:
http://www.comfort-women.org/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
www.vday.org/contents/vcampaigns/spotlight/comfortwomen
Pics: google images
