Three ‘comfort women’ forced into sex slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II, will be giving their testimonies at an Amnesty International hearing in the European Parliament, to be chaired by Jean Lambert MEP tomorrow.
From 1932 -1945, up to 200,000 women were dishonestly recruited or kidnapped from across South East Asia to work as sex slaves. Once imprisoned in the Japanese comfort stations they were typically abused and exploited by 20 to 30 men a day.
Jean Lambert MEP said:
“62 years on the ‘comfort women’ are still waiting for justice, many having suffered a life blighted by physical and mental ill-health as well as isolation, shame and extreme poverty.
“Today, from Darfur to Iraq and Colombia to Chad, sexual violence against women is used as a tool of war and for ethnic cleansing. Rape traumatises, stigmatises and ostracises the women involved, destroying families and sometimes entire communities. We must seek every possible means to end this appalling brutality.”
In war-zones rape is often used as a tool to fracture and destabilise communities and sometimes to restructure the ethnic composition. Since 1998, rape has been recognised as a war crime and a crime against humanity. Where conflict zones create displaced and refugee populations, women are also targeted for exploitation and trafficking.
The hearing will take place as part of Amnesty International’s ongoing work on women in conflict and the use of rape as a weapon of war.
ENDS
Background information on the ‘comfort women’ testifying at the hearing
Ellen van der Ploeg, 84, was born in the Netherlands. Whilst living in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), at the age of 20 she was taken by Japanese forces along with her family to five internment camps before being released in September 1946. She was eventually “selected” to serve the Imperial Japanese forces as a ‘comfort woman’ and contracted a venereal disease, which was only cured after her return to the Netherlands.
Lola Menen, 78, was born in the Philippines. At the age of 13, Japanese troops raided her village and brought her to a comfort station. She was raped and beaten during four days until her mother negotiated her release. With the support of her family, she worked hard to gain her life back and made it to University. She is currently the National Representative of the Lolas Kampanyera and has testified on numerous occasions at different international conventions about her experience during WWII.
Gil Won Ok, 79, was born in what is now North Korea. At the age of 13 she was approached by a Korean man with the promise of factory work, but eventually found herself in a comfort station in northeast China. Fifty three years after her traumatic experience, which led her to catch syphilis and develop tumours, she broke her silence.