Over fifty years ago, Chinese woman Iwa Na was violently taken from her home while washing clothes. Her life since then has forever changed. She was brought to a cave and raped at 14 years of age. Five Japanese soldiers took turns raping her. When she escaped she was later found and was then hung up in a tree and beaten until unconscious. As she awoke, she found herself back in the same cave and endured the same fate as before, as a comfort woman for the Japanese military.
While I listened to Iwa Na tell her horrific story I realized the pain of her past was still with her as an elderly woman. She stood up before the Womenís International War Crimes Tribunal peopleís court in Tokyo, Japan and demanded that an apology be made, that justice be brought to the thousands of comfort women who suffered as she did.
For the comfort women like Iwa Na, the pain did not stop after the systematic rapes were over. When the war ended, ìwe were left roaming. We were miserable. I am angry! Most comfort women could not bear children or tell their loved ones of their forced prostitution in the comfort stations due to the fear of becoming a damned women.
One woman's husband did find out about her past and told her, "Better to have a left over dog, then a left over person." He then left her for another woman. Many of these women are also very afraid of men. One former Netherlands comfort woman remarked that this is one of things that the Japanese military took from us- the right to enjoy sex without the fear of being raped always in our heads. As Iwa Na continued with her story, she grew angry. She then froze with tumultous emotion and collapsed to the floor. The counselor catches her and the court is held in recess to hear more terrifying testimonies from comfort women in China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and East Timor.
From December 8th to the 12th, The International Tribunal gathered to hear the testimonies from former comfort women, two x-Japanese soldiers, experts on Japanese history and international law in order to find the truth of what happened with the Japanese military comfort stations. While experts throughout Asia have gathered mounting evidence since 1991 to prove of military involvement in comfort stations, the Japanese government still denies any responsibility to experts claims. Proof such as one testimony from an 80-year-old x- Japanese soldier, Mr. Kaneko, who admitted visiting the comfort stations frequently and encouraged other lower ranking soldiers to do the same.
The Japanese government still insists that they are not responsible for the stations, rather that it was private businessmen who owned the comfort stations. The testimonies from the x-soldiers explained how they were encouraged to go to comfort stations so as to deter rape in the battlefields. When asked if the stations were effective in deterring rapes he exclaimed that there was "rape in the battlefield in enemy zone we were told we could do what we want to do, so we rape."
Another x-soldier stated that the Japanese military "told us to kill children and women, because children grow up and will kill." He proceeded to tell his story of raping a woman who had smeared feces on her to deter him of rape. He raped her nonetheless. Both men spoke out so that the true nature of the war would be known.
According to Ms. Gay McDougall, UN Special Rapporteur on Systematic rape, it is estimated that there were over 200,000 comfort women owned by the Japanese Imperial Army and Government of Japan (VAWW-NET JapanBooklet No.1). It was only until 1992 when the Japanese Government decided that the comfort women were still an issue to be dealt with. This was mostly due to the couragious women who spoke out about their abuse. The world began to open their ears. Since then an enormous amount of proof holding the Japanese government responsible has accumulated.
Still, no formal apology or compensation has been made by the government. The government has set up an Asian Women's Fund for the women. The problem about the fund is that all the money comes from private donors. Most of the former comfort women take this as a way for the government to evade their responsiblity, so they are refusing to accept the money. Instead, the women have further organsied internationally for the truth of their situation to be known as well as to expose the reality of violence against women worldwide that is happening now.
A very clear message was made in the tribunal, that the 500 international participants desire to go beyond what happened 50 plus years ago and are demandind for an end to violence today. The Public Hearing on Crimes Against Women in Recent Wars in Conflicts was held during the tribunal to discuss and hear testimonies about women and girls raped systematically in Kosovo, Sierre Leone, Burundi, Peru, Sri Lanka and more.
On the final day of the tribunal, the people's court found the Japanese government guilty of crimes against humanity. As to my knowledge, the Japanese government has had little to say of the judgement. What is for sure, is that due to the tribunal, the Japanese people and international community are much more aware of the critical issue of violence against women.
One tribunal particpant, Maria Martinez, a 32 year old Spainard who writes about the comfort women issue, stated that the Japanese governemnt "will not admit they are criminals". But if the Japanese people demanded that justice be made, then this could place pressure on the governemnt to apologize formally. Currently little is said of the history of comfort women in the Japanese textbooks or in the media.
According to the Japanese participants I spoke to at the event, most people in Japan do not know the total truth about Japanese attrocities during WW2. One Japanese 24 year old told me that while there were Japanese patriots protesting the event, stating that the tribunal was anti-Japanese, she felt that the tribunal was a definite success. She said, "I was surprised so many were interested, in the world so many are interested." Indeed international pressure can help as well and if Japan wants to be full partipants in the UN, then they will have to come to terms with their past.
The Japanese government righting the wrongs of their past will set a precedent to countries worldwide that violence against women is no longer tolerated. The world is watching and will take action. While the UN has set up an international law that considers violence against women a crime against humanity, the law alone will not stop the violence. Internationally and locally, we all must demand peace as our right, as no foul government, military, or guerrilla group will give up on its sadasm without an organised resistence and sustainable alternative to violence.
Jennifer Sauer
Any comments please feel free to email
her at-
kindlady76@hotmail.com