Women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II, often known as “comfort women” will convene in Tokyo on December 7-10 to testify and demand accountability from the Japanese government. The Japanese military lured and/or abducted as many as 200,000 young and poor women from Korea, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines during WWII for the purpose of sexually servicing its soldiers. These so-called “comfort women” were kidnapped or coerced into entering military brothels by men who made false promises of legitimate employment. There, the women were raped by as many as 20 or 30 Japanese soldiers each day.
The accompanying one-day public hearing scheduled for December 11 will address the fact that “comfort women” still exist and are not a thing of the past in countries during armed conflict. Women from Sierra Leone, Burundi, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Mexico (Chiapas), Vietnam, Somalia, Burma, Okinawa and Korea will be in attendance and present testimony and analysis.
