The Diabolical History Of The "Comfort Woman" Of WWII

One of the most tragic stories of WWII is that of the "comfort women", a polite name for the forced kidnapping or coercion of women and girls by the Japanese Army to "comfort" their soldiers. As in many war crimes cases, "comfort" is a euphemism, for this was just a polite term for "sexual slavery" on a mass scale. Though records exist in Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, they are partial and only tell part of the story that Japan, to this day, is reluctant to talk about openly. However, it should be said that over the last two decades, they have made a greater effort to both admit their armies' guilt, apologize and make some restitution – though many of the surviving comfort women believe it was not enough. Time has gone by, and most of the victims of this atrocity have passed on, but their memory remains in the national identity of countries occupied by Japan during WWII.

It's not just that the children of the comfort women are well into their old age now as well; it's that very few comfort women were able to have children after the years of sexual abuse they endured. Physically, they had been made sterile – not intentionally, but from repeated punishing abuse. Mentally, many victims could not even fathom letting a man touch them again after what they had been through. Among the many things taken from these women was the common dream of having children and grandchildren.

It's estimated that nearly 500,000 women were taken from their homes to "service" Japanese troops during the war. Most of the women taken were poor and uneducated. Some were taken by force, literally right off the street. Some were girls who had not yet had their first period. A surprising number were lured into captivity with promises of a good-paying job elsewhere – maybe in the nearest big city, maybe in Japan.

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Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill

Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason Bohol

Voice-over Artist: Chris Redish

Music: Motionarray.com

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