Essay on Comfort Women: Filipinas' Stories of Prostitution & Slavery Under Japanese Military

The article 'Comfort Woman: a Filipina's Story of Prostitution and Slavery under the Japanese Military' by Maria Rosa Henson talks about the stories of how women were used for prostitution under the Japanese leadership. This document will give a summary of the article. According to the report, women were abused, and no action was taken. In some account, a woman was raped by 12 soldiers. Some even slept with landlords despite them having their families and children (Henson and Tanaka 8).

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For the Japanese military to manage the brothels, many women were mobilized and exploited by the Japanese during the Asia-Pacific War. It is impossible to know precisely how many women participated. However, it is estimated that there were about 100,000, of which 80% were considered Korean. Many women in Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have also been exposed to sexual pressure. Those that were mostly attacked were Taiwanese and Korean women. The countries were the colonies of Japan. The reasons that facilitated this recruitment of these women was the economic and political environment in these countries.

Many Japanese and Korean recruitment agencies, with the support of Kempeitai and the civilian police in these countries, were looking for suitable women. Several statements, including Korea's "comfort gifts," indicate that many of these employment agencies used dubious methods such as fraud, intimidation, violence, and even kidnapping. A good example was the Japanese Imperial forces pretending to offer sanctuary to women escaping from violence and cases of sexual exploitation (Henson and Tanaka 83). However, it should be noted that the provision of "comfort women" was an ineffective way to solve any of the problems.

This applies in particular to occasional sexual violence against civilians in the occupied territories. It should not be forgotten that, despite the official justification of the program, 100,000 women who participate in the "comfort of women" system have become victims of sexual violence and sexual slavery.

Some of the evidence and testimony presented during the Tokyo process, held in Tokyo between May 1946 and November 1948, show that Japanese forces committed numerous atrocities against civilians in the Philippines, including many acts of violence. The war crimes court proceedings conducted by US forces in Manila shortly after the war, such as General Yamashita Tomoyuki, the latest commander of the Japanese Armed Forces in the Philippines, also contain detailed reports on numerous cases of similar crimes committed by Japanese men. Evidence presented in these war crimes trials mainly involved instances that occurred during the invasion of Japanese forces in the Philippines between late 1941 and early 1942, or at the end of the Japanese occupation, especially after October 1944, when American troops landed at Leyte (Henson and Tanaka 51). Japanese brutality during the fierce Battle of Manila in February 1945 is particularly well documented. However, little is known about the extent of the sexual violence perpetrated by Japan against the civilian population during the rest of the occupation.

The testimonies of these Filipino victims clearly show that the methods of "recruiting" Japanese troops into the Philippines were somewhat different from those of other Asia-Pacific regions occupied by Japanese imperial forces during the war, especially in Korea and Japan. The most characteristic feature used in Korea and Taiwan was deception: false promises of work in Japan or other areas occupied by Japan. As a general rule, a labor agent approached a girl from a low-income family of farmers and committed to hiring her as a nurse, kitchen helper, laundry, or similar. She would not have discovered the true nature of the job before being transferred to a service station and raped by members of the Japanese army. Some women were sold by their parents to work agencies (because of their financial despair) and ended up finding themselves in comfort booths somewhere in Southeast Asia or China. Some women claimed to have been abducted by unknown civilians or arrested by police for not committing a crime and then sent abroad to comfort centers.

In Korea and Taiwan, military personnel often did not directly participate in the recruitment of women, which was usually occupied by Japanese or local placement agencies. In the Dutch East Indies, where local people have generally welcomed the arrival of Japanese imperial forces in their territories as "liberators" of Dutch colonialism, deception seemed to be a current tactic used by the Japanese "recruit." Unlike the military authorities in these areas, statements, including of Maria Rosa Henson, suggest that Japanese troops managed to "comfort" the Philippines directly. Also, his methods were unfair: kidnapping, rape, and continued imprisonment for sexual exploitation. It seems the Japanese did not even try to hide what they did to civilians.

The main reason for such direct action by Japanese troops in the Philippines could be the fact that the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement was powerful and widespread during the occupation. It is said that at its peak there were over one hundred guerrilla organizations, with about 270,000 activists and officials. The continuous cases of rape were a very frightening experience for the women who were under captivity. Nobody was there to fight for their rights. These stories were brought put by Maria when he wrote the article about how Filipina women were tortured. Some of the women had to endure extra torture by witnessing their parents being murdered, and their siblings abducted by the Japanese. An example is when two soldiers entered the house of Tomasa Salinog, 13, and her father in Antico, on the island of Panay (Henson and Tanaka 87).

This irresponsible and unconscious attitude that the Japanese government has reinforced the case former "comfort women" in Korea, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries, instead of taking their votes. Her courageous actions encouraged many supporters around the world, especially feminist groups, including those in Japan. Without the continued efforts of these victims to keep the problem alive and without the support of women and men around the world, the project to establish the Court would not have materialized. This plan is still partially implemented. But the world can no longer ignore the voices of these women.

In some cases, the women who were abused were innocent girls who wanted to better their lives. The parents also should be blamed for selling their daughters because of money. This made some of them become traumatized (Henson and Tanaka 62). In the confessions, some were even below 15 years. They never knew what was going on. Slave trade was prevalent during those days.

Works Cited

Henson, Maria Rosa, and Yuki. Comfort Woman: a Filipinas Story of Prostitution and Slavery under the Japanese Military. Rowman & Littlefield, 1999.