'Comfort Women,' WWII Sex Slaves, To Rally In Demand Of Apology
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QUEZON CITY, Philippines (WOMENSENEWS)--Surviving "comfort women" continue to see each other in monthly gatherings, sharing stories or belting out love songs with the videoke machine.
Recently, they met at the office of Lila Pilipina, a survivors' group in Quezon City.
It was the end of May and there was a heavy downpour that morning, but it didn't drown out the sound of the voices of the lolas--grandmothers in Filipino--as they sang their own rendition of love songs from forgotten times.
They shared a bowl of hot soup and a loaf of cheese bread before discussing the next steps in their struggle for justice.
"We can no longer take back what happened to us but my hope is for future generations to not suffer the same thing," said one survivor named Virginia Villarma.
The issue of so-called comfort women isn't usually mentioned by the Japanese government.
Philippine authorities have also been quiet, afraid that the issue may strain economic ties with Japan, which accounted for 18 percent of the Philippine export market in 2011.
However, in early May a Japanese politician brought the
issue
to the surface when he drew international press attention by saying that sex slaves served a necessary role during the Second World War, particularly to provide relief to Japanese troops.
"For soldiers who risked their lives in circumstances where bullets are flying around like rain and wind, if you want them to get some rest, a comfort women system was necessary. That's clear to anyone," said Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka, Japan.
Hashimoto's words angered the women once part of the comfort system here and in South Korea.
"Such statement is unbecoming of a public official," Lila Pilipina said in a statement. "Japan cannot rewrite history by justifying such wrongful acts and thus exonerate its crimes against women."
The group asked the Philippine government to issue a diplomatic protest. Instead, the Filipino Department of Foreign Affairs reminded Japanese officials to be careful in making comments on the issue of comfort women.
Now, survivors are planning to stage a rally on July 22, coinciding with Philippine President Benigno Aquino's State of the Nation address.
Seeking Apologies
Comfort women have long sought a public, worldwide apology from the Japanese government for the war atrocities committed. They want an apology, too, from Hashimoto, who has since claimed that he was misquoted by the press.
Comfort women have long sought a public, worldwide apology from the Japanese government for the war atrocities committed. They want an apology, too, from Hashimoto, who has since claimed that he was misquoted by the press.
They are also seeking legal compensation from the Japanese government and for the Philippine government to join them in these demands.
"We want the Japanese government to recognize and apologize for its military policy of the use of comfort women during the war," said Richelda Extremadura, executive director of Lila Pilipina, which collects testimonies of Filipina comfort women. "Nobody has the right to use women in furtherance of their objectives."
Lila Pilipina started in 1992 with 174 members. Today only 103 members of the organization are still alive.
They are part of the estimated 100,000 to 250,000 Asian women, many between the ages of 13 and 15, who were abducted by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II to serve as sex slaves.
The army kept them in military brothels where they were repeatedly raped, according to their own testimonies gathered by Lila Pilipina.
For seven decades these lolas have been searching for an apology and financial compensation for what they suffered.
"We will not waver," said Pilar Frias, 87 years old and widely known as Lola Pilar.
Japanese soldiers abducted Lola Pilar in 1943. She was only 16 years old at the time. She was forced to walk with Japanese military men as they roamed far-flung villages in her province in Camarines Sur in search of Filipino guerilla camps. In between the hunt for rebels, the Japanese troops would take turns raping her. She said around 100 soldiers raped her.
Lola Pilar said there are no words for the pain she went through during this time. When she was pregnant with her second child her husband left her when he heard her story.
To her last breath, she vowed, to join her fellow survivors in the quest for justice.
It's not easy.
The lolas are old. Their legs are wobbly and they easily get tired.
No Justice Yet
Lila Pilipina's Extremadura said that their arduous and painful struggle hasn't gotten them any justice yet.
Lila Pilipina's Extremadura said that their arduous and painful struggle hasn't gotten them any justice yet.
"We have exhausted everything," Extremadura said, referring to the legal actions taken by the group.
On April 2, 1983, 18 Filipino comfort women filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court of Japan. They demanded post-war accountability including compensation and reparation.
On Christmas Day of 2003, the Japanese Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, arguing that Japan's legal system has limitations in complying with international laws.
The mayor's words have now energized the survivors.
Survivor Villarma can't remember how old she is. Her almond-shaped eyes squint and her wrinkles seem to double as she tries to remember. Her lips, covered with a faded purple lipstick, purse into an embarrassed smile. She says she is 81. Or 82. No, she is 83, she says finally after counting from 1929.
She forgets many things, such as what she did yesterday morning or the morning before that.
But Lola Virginia, as her family and friends call her, will never forget that scorching noon day in 1943 when three Japanese soldiers dragged her from an empty street in Manila, pulled her black wavy hair and forcibly put her in their car, a small sedan. She was 14. They brought her to an abandoned building not far from Manila Bay where she saw many other girls her age locked up in different rooms.
The soldiers beat her for hours until she could no longer scream. In the evening, more Japanese military men came. And it was then when they took turns raping her. She had lost count. The rapes went on every single night for three months until she and the other girls managed to escape.
Maria Rosa Luna Henson, known as Lola Rosa, was the first Filipino comfort woman to come out in public in 1992, a move that gave way for others who suffered the same plight to also tell their stories.
Lola Rosa died in 1997 but her story did not die with her. For three months in 1943, soldiers raped her from morning to evening, she said in a story she has told and retold and which joins other testimonies compiled in the book "Justice and the Comfort Women," published by the University of the Philippines, Manila.
Every comfort woman has a story to tell. Many of them no longer remember their children's ages or how many grandchildren they have. But they still remember the atrocities of war.
Iris Gonzales is a Manila-based journalist and blogger, writing economic, development and humanitarian stories. Some of her work may be read at http://www.irisgonzales.blogspot.com.
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03:56 AM on 06/24/2013
Ok... I will apologize. I am sorry. (but some men who abused you might be down under already)
05:06 PM on 06/23/2013
They need to apologize for making me associate their current photos with sex.
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10:47 PM on 06/24/2013
Really? Could you not contribute a thoughtful comment to the discussion?
10:36 AM on 06/25/2013
It was a moment of weakness... 
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05:04 PM on 06/23/2013
"Fie dolla make you holla GI"
11:14 AM on 06/23/2013
I am touched to hear that these women continue to gather monthly to share stories and support each other. This is a testimony to the healing power of the feminine.
07:20 AM on 06/23/2013
Japan is a great country, but it has a lot of apologizing to do for the victims of its past. Had Japan done away with all this before we wouldn't have this discussion today.
06:13 AM on 06/23/2013
Sadly, the story of women being subjected to physical cruelty in wartime is far broader than this story. Women and girls have been viewed as prey by the 'raping and pillaging' combatants in every war; by all armies of all countries. Societies tacitly discount this treatment as the 'hell that is war' . . . I view it as something more sinister about human culture: the thin line between defender and oppressor.
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05:52 AM on 06/23/2013
Japanese are just horrible. All these decades and they're in denial that it ever happened. Not surprising, considering their alliance with the Nazi's during WWII. Such rich irony in these crazies who denied the holocaust...
04:44 AM on 06/23/2013
And waiting this long because..............?
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10:51 PM on 06/24/2013
Because rape is a humiliating, painful, excruciatingly difficult experience and all that is compounded for a young woman belonging to a society that places a high value on honor.
04:39 AM on 06/23/2013
Toru Hashimoto may not realize it, but his words admit that the Japanese men are savages and incapable of civilized behavior without raping women to relieve themselves.
05:13 AM on 06/23/2013
maybe you should take a look at what women face in the US military, or the Red army liberation of Berlin.
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05:56 AM on 06/23/2013
K, what does the US Army or Red army if Berlin have anything to do with this article ? Uh DUH?!?!Stay on topic my man !
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06:20 AM on 06/23/2013
Read the comment I was replying too, Japanese are savages???
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03:12 AM on 06/23/2013
>>>> a comfort women system was necessary. That's clear to anyoneThen get Japanese women to enlist in the Comfort Woman Corps to take care of your soldiers.
22 minutes ago ( 4:52 PM)
After WW2, Japan was put on trial for almost three years. The trial was called the International Military Tribunal For The Far East, and these extensive trials took place in 49 cities across Asia and USSR. The total recorded number of trials were 2,235 of which 605 trials took place in China alone (Taiwan is not included in this number), placing China at the top of the list. The courts were held in Nanking, Hankou, Beijing, Guongdong, Shenyang, Jinan, Xuzhou, and Shanghai. But these trials ignored the civilian rapes and massacres committed by the Chinese, Russians and Koreans and the rest of Allies, of course only because they won the war.Recorded number of military personnel executed exceeded 1000, but this is one half of the actual number. Japan lost the war, and she has served her sentences and also apologized and paid reparations but it seems that she is placed under perpetual punishment, for ever and ever. Korea was part of Japan during WW2, and the police-men in the Korean peninsula were entirely of Korean ethnicity so were the mayors and governors. These are facts that can be proved. I advise you to watch, "Fog of War" on Youtube, and you will see Japan was almost ethnically cleansed during WW2 and she never really recovered in terms of population power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOCYcgOnWUM 2/2
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02:59 AM on 06/23/2013
"a comfort women system was necessary. That's clear to anyone," said Toru Hashimoto"To anyone but the women themselves.
And 'comfort women' is such a euphemism for sex slaves.
My prayers and thoughts to these women.
02:53 AM on 06/23/2013
17K comments here on Puff for Paula Deen and a paltry 200 for this DOCUMENTED hate crime committed against women. Really? A TV overeating diva gets press and these women get passed over again?
02:37 AM on 06/23/2013
I am not sure about this posting there are some odd things first of all this pic is not current The guy and the back is an ex prime minister Koizumi from 2005 and these ladies are not from the Philippines. The picture in the bottom is nothing to do with comfort women. Im up with the argument of this issue, but not when it is being twisted by the media
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03:00 AM on 06/23/2013
HP is not known for necessarily using accurate or relevant photos for their stories.
01:22 PM on 06/23/2013
Read the caption on the top picture and all your questions will be answered.
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02:23 AM on 06/23/2013
Japan is full of filthy WWII revisionists. They should be tried and neck tied just like finding a former concentration con camp guard.
03:15 AM on 06/23/2013
Agree. Japan never had to face their war crimes the way Germany did.
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11:00 PM on 06/24/2013
In the same way, no, but Japan faced two different circumstances instead. First, the atomic bomb blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and second, the new constitution (written by the Allies) that forbid Japan to have a military force.
01:30 AM on 06/23/2013
This is so disturbing. Women are disrespected in such horrible ways around the globe; what some people are failing to realize is the significance of an apology. An apology would not only be an admittance that a government sanctioned CRIME occurred, but would/could also be a part of a larger conversation on how to avoid these disturbing acts (and ones like it) in the future. Just as this type of evil has been taught, both directly through hate speech and hateful actions or indirectly through silence surrounding the mistreatment of underrepresented communities, respect for women ALSO must be taught. It drives me crazy to read that this type of behavior is "inevitable." Things won't change unless the conversation and steps are taken to make things change.
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11:10 PM on 06/24/2013
Apology could be a catalyst for healing. Japanese society in the 1940s placed a high value on a woman's honor and rape victims were often blamed for their circumstance. It is a humiliation they have carried a very long time and one they may finally be able to release. I hope they are able to do so. You made a good observation, Chanti. Most Popular
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