The working group “Comfort Women” within the Korea Verband e. V. was founded in November 2009 on the initiative of Nataly Jung-Hwa Han. The group carries out educational and public awareness work and conducts political campaigns to make the issue of “comfort women” known in Germany. The members of the working group come from China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and other countries.
From December 7–14, 2011, an action week on “comfort women” took place in Germany. More information can be found on our subpage.
The “Comfort Women” System and the History of the Victims until 1945
The so-called “comfort women”
During the Asia-Pacific War (1937–1945), the Japanese military and its collaborators abducted at least 200,000 girls and young women between the ages of 11 and 29. These victims were systematically and deceitfully “forcibly recruited” from former Japanese colonies such as Korea and Taiwan, as well as from eleven occupied countries. They came from the following countries as they exist today: Burma (Myanmar), China, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
They were forced into prostitution for soldiers and called “comfort women” (ianfu in Japanese). In reality, these women, far from being sources of “comfort,” were enslaved, brutally and inhumanely sexually abused, and imprisoned in military brothels (“comfort stations”). In most cases, they were rendered infertile through abuse, profoundly affecting the rest of their lives.
After Japan’s surrender in 1945, the military abandoned the “comfort women” in foreign lands. Only a few managed to return home. Out of shame, guilt, and fear of social ostracization, they could not share their suffering with anyone. This collective silence and repression existed not only in Japan but also in the victimized countries.
Breaking the Silence
Nearly half a century later, on August 14, 1991, Ms. Kim Hak-Soon became the first courageous survivor to give public testimony on television after the Japanese government initially denied the crimes. Following this breaking of the silence, more than 500 women from 13 countries came forward and demanded an official apology and compensation from Japan. This sparked the international “comfort women movement,” eventually joined by organizations such as the UN Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, and the ILO.
When undeniable documents were discovered in the archives of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono admitted the war crime in 1992. However, subsequent prime ministers repeatedly denied it. To this day, there has been neither a sincere apology nor official compensation for the victims on behalf of the Japanese government. This failure to address the past remains a major obstacle to cooperation and peace in the region.
Many of the surviving victims have since passed away; for example, in South Korea, the number of registered survivors has dropped sharply from the original 234. Time is running out to achieve rehabilitation for these survivors of systematic sexual violence.
The “Comfort Women” System
Although there were some military brothels even before the war, their systematic and widespread establishment coincided with the escalation of military operations following the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. The official reasons for setting up comfort stations were:
- To boost the morale of soldiers
- To prevent mass rapes at war sites (as had occurred in Nanjing)
- To reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases
At first, prostitutes were officially recruited, but as the war front expanded, the increasing “demand” could no longer be met. This led to the forced recruitment of young girls and women — often lured with false promises of well-paid jobs, especially targeting poor girls, or abducted outright.
The comfort stations were set up in war zones and sometimes moved with the armies from battle to battle, which meant the “comfort women” were exposed not only to sexual abuse but also to the dangers of war.
While some sources describe condoms as mandatory for soldiers, many victims testified that they were not used. In cases of pregnancy, forced abortions were usually performed, babies were taken away, and some pregnant women were even killed. Illness, pregnancy, or menstruation did not release the women from their “duties.”
The number of men each woman was forced to serve daily varied greatly depending on the source, but many accounts indicate that it often exceeded 50. A more commonly cited figure is 20–30 men per day, with a structured routine: ordinary soldiers during the day and officers at night.
The Paths of Recruitment
As military operations intensified in the late 1930s, the demand for “comfort women” grew. Victims’ biographies reveal a direct correlation between this demand and recruitment patterns.
Recruitment methods included:
- The so-called “volunteer corps” (Jungshindae in Korean) in Korea
- False promises of employment
- Direct abduction
Women were taken from a total of 13 countries: Burma (Myanmar), China, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.