During World War II, the Japanese established military brothels in the countries they occupied. Thousands of women from Korea, China, the Philippines... were forced to provide sexual services to the soldiers of the Japanese imperial army. They were called «comfort women » (comfort women ). Young women from countries under Japanese control were kidnapped from their homes or lured with false promises of work. Once recruited , were imprisoned in «comfort stations » (authentic brothels ) where they were forced to satisfy the needs of the Japanese. Many denied the existence of this type of slavery, others came to justify it with arguments as strange and miserable as increasing the morale of the troops, to avoid massive rapes, prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases...
Everything remained hidden until in 1991 the Korean Kim Hak-Soon She, already 63 years old, could not take it anymore and told the world about the existence of the comfort women . Later investigations and a report from the US War Office confirmed Kim's data. The aforementioned American report made it clear that it was not a one-time event but that everything was perfectly regulated:
- Soldiers. Hours:10:00-17:00 Price:¥1.50 Time:20 to 30 minutes
- NCOs. Hours:17:00-21:00 Price:¥3.00 Time:30 to 40 minutes
- Officers. Hours:21:00-24:00 Price:¥5.00 Time:30 to 40 minutes
To regulate the massive influx of soldiers, shifts were established for the different army units:
- Sunday – Infantry
- Monday – Cavalry
- Tuesday – Engineers
- Wednesday – Weekly rest day and a physical exam.
- Thursday – The Doctors
- Friday – Artillery
- Saturday – Transportation
The Korean Council for Women Recruited for Sexual Slavery by Japan was created which demanded that the Japanese government:
- Admit the existence of sex slaves.
- A public apology.
- A memorial to the victims.
- That the survivors and the families of the victims receive compensation.
As of today, they are still waiting…
Sources and images:The Independent, Tolerance, BBC, Korean History