"Comfort women" recount abuse

"Comfort women" recount abuse

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“I don’t want to live anymore,” the frail woman said in a husky voice. Reaching the end of her life, in pain from several severe diseases, she has terrible memories of her earlier days. Zhang Xiantu is one of the surviving Chinese "comfort women", as those forced to work in Japan's wartime military brothels are euphemistically called.

When I met Zhang in her dark and shabby home, she recalled the day Japanese soldiers broke into her house and abducted her at the age of 15.

. Xiyan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

As the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two approaches, I visited surviving former “comfort women” in China and South Korea. The long years have not been able to heal their scars, both mental and physical.

Scholars continue to debate the number of women exploited, but activists say there may have been as many as 200,000 Korean victims, few of whom came forward. In China, estimates are sketchier, but also range as high as 200,000, with historians having identified 200 victims.

. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

When I visited another survivor in China, Hao Yuelian, she was having intravenous treatment on her emaciated foot in her room decorated with big posters of babies.

They seemed out of place in this barren house; but her adopted daughter explained that the biggest scar of her life was her lost fertility, something her family consider is related to what happened to Hao during World War Two.

. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

After many years, evidence of this tragic experience is no longer visible. Instead, I saw women suffering physically and socially in desperate financial circumstances. With little or no support other than from their families, these women seem to be silently fading away into history.

Chinese researchers told me they have only been able to locate fewer than 20 former Chinese “comfort women”. Most of them are in the same wretched situation.

. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Juxiang Hao was abducted by Japanese soldiers when she was 15 or 16 and forced to serve as a “sex slave” for nearly 20 days.

After my journey to document Chinese victims, I flew to South Korea to meet another four survivors. I found that, though the victims from both countries share similar experiences, their current lives are very different.

. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

South Korean Kim Bok-dong was abducted when she was 15. According to her testimony, on weekdays she was forced to have sex with around 15 Japanese soldiers a day. On weekends she said it seemed like it was more than 50 in what were called “comfort stations”.

She now takes a public role in acknowledging what happened to her rather than being shamed into silence.

. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Every Wednesday, she attends a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to demand an apology from Japan; hundreds of people support her by participating in the rally. Far from a listless victim, I saw an impassioned peace activist striving not only to restore her dignity but also help other victims.

In South Korea, 238 victims came forward and shared their stories of abuse and all survivors receive financial support from the government. Only 47 South Korean former “comfort women” are alive today.

. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Gil Won-ok, born in what is now North Korea in 1927, was taken to a Japanese military brothel in China in 1940. She caught syphilis and developed tumours. A Japanese military doctor removed her uterus, leaving her unable to have children.

Twelve of them live in special shelters for former “comfort women” funded by an NGO. In these facilities, care workers and medical staff look after them and therapy is provided to help treat their trauma.

After witnessing how former “comfort women” live in both countries, there is an obvious difference in their quality of life.

. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

“The Chinese government overlooked the issue of comfort women in their attempt to focus on normalising the relationship with Japan,” said Su Zhiliang, Director of the China Research Center of Comfort Women.

Despite these differences, for all of the ageing survivors there is little time left for them to get the apology and compensation they want from Japan.

Kim Bok-dong told me that many of the “comfort women” have already passed away. It’s very painful to realise they didn’t receive even an apology from Japan before they died, she said.

. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Japan has said a 1965 treaty establishing diplomatic ties with South Korea settled the issue of compensation for women forced to work in the brothels. Japan also set up a fund in 1995 to make payments to the women from private contributions, but South Korea has said that was unofficial and so not good enough.

Japan's Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that Chinese individuals lost their right to claim war compensation from Japan and its companies under a 1972 Japan-China joint communiqué.

. Xipan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
A former fortress where Japanese soldiers kept women they abducted lies abandoned.

In South Korea, eight former “comfort women” have died this year, five since June, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye said last week the August 15 anniversary marking the end of the war 70 years ago may be the last chance for a Japanese leader to resolve the issue.

While working on this story, one South Korean victim in her 90s, Park Yu-nyeon, died in her foster son’s house in the United States.

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Slideshow

Zhang Xiantu shows her bound feet. When Japanese soldiers broke into her house to collect her family's food supply, 15-year-old Zhang Xiantu couldn’t run away because she’d had her feet bound, a custom that stopped in the early 20th century.
. Xiyan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Zhang Xiantu shows her bound feet. When Japanese soldiers broke into her house to collect her family's food supply, 15-year-old Zhang Xiantu couldn’t run away because she’d had her feet bound, a custom that stopped in the early 20th century.

Zhang is the only surviving former “comfort woman” of the 16 plaintiffs in Shanxi who sued the Japanese government in 1995. Zhang was abducted at 16 and was forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for over 20 days. Every day she was raped and abused by several Japanese soldiers.
. Xiyan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Zhang is the only surviving former “comfort woman” of the 16 plaintiffs in Shanxi who sued the Japanese government in 1995. Zhang was abducted at 16 and was forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for over 20 days. Every day she was raped and abused by several Japanese soldiers.

Ren Lane and her family are expecting financial support from the Chinese government, but no government official ever came to visit them, Ren and her family said.
. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Ren Lane and her family are expecting financial support from the Chinese government, but no government official ever came to visit them, Ren and her family said.

Ren was abducted aged 15 and forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for over 20 days. Her mother was able to rescue her by paying rice and flour as ransom. Ren later married and had three sons and a daughter.
. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Ren was abducted aged 15 and forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for over 20 days. Her mother was able to rescue her by paying rice and flour as ransom. Ren later married and had three sons and a daughter.

Ren sits behind a sits behind a suitcase with a shroud, which she has prepared for her death.
. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Ren sits behind a sits behind a suitcase with a shroud, which she has prepared for her death.

Hao Juxiang holds hands with her son. Hao's only carer, her second son usually goes out to work during the day, so she often spends her whole time alone in the small and shabby farmhouse.
. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Hao Juxiang holds hands with her son. Hao's only carer, her second son usually goes out to work during the day, so she often spends her whole time alone in the small and shabby farmhouse.

Hao (right) was abducted by Japanese soldiers when she was 15 or 16 and was forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for nearly 20 days. She lives in a small community and many of her neighbours know about her past as a “comfort woman”.
. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Hao (right) was abducted by Japanese soldiers when she was 15 or 16 and was forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for nearly 20 days. She lives in a small community and many of her neighbours know about her past as a “comfort woman”.

Hao, who wants an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, thinks there is little possibility she will live long enough to see that happen, her family said.
. Gucheng, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Hao, who wants an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, thinks there is little possibility she will live long enough to see that happen, her family said.

Zhang Shuangbing, an independent researcher on Chinese “comfort women”, bows at the tomb of Liu Mianhuan. Liu, who died three years ago, was abducted by Japanese soldiers when she was 15 and forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for over 40 days.
. Xiyan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Zhang Shuangbing, an independent researcher on Chinese “comfort women”, bows at the tomb of Liu Mianhuan. Liu, who died three years ago, was abducted by Japanese soldiers when she was 15 and forced to serve as a “comfort woman” for over 40 days.

Visiting the tomb of Liu, Zhang Shuangbing said aloud: “It's me again. We didn't have enough power to win a law suit yet. I will come again to tell you when we win it.”
. Xipan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Visiting the tomb of Liu, Zhang Shuangbing said aloud: “It's me again. We didn't have enough power to win a law suit yet. I will come again to tell you when we win it.”

A former fortress where Japanese soldier kept women they abducted is now abandoned.
. Xipan, CHINA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A former fortress where Japanese soldier kept women they abducted is now abandoned.

Flowers are placed on a statue of a “comfort woman” during the weekly Wednesday protest in front of the Japanese Embassy demanding an apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Flowers are placed on a statue of a “comfort woman” during the weekly Wednesday protest in front of the Japanese Embassy demanding an apology and compensation from the Japanese government.

South Korean Gil Won-ok is helped by a volunteer as she heads to the weekly Wednesday protest.
. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

South Korean Gil Won-ok is helped by a volunteer as she heads to the weekly Wednesday protest.

Gil Won-ok wears a badge in the shape of the butterfly, a symbol of the Butterfly Fund, which helps women across the world affected by wartime sexual violence.
. Seoul, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Gil Won-ok wears a badge in the shape of the butterfly, a symbol of the Butterfly Fund, which helps women across the world affected by wartime sexual violence.

South Korean Lee Ok-sun, who was born in 1927 in Busan, South Korea, was taken in 1942 to an airfield in China where she was habitually raped. Later she was taken to various Japanese military brothels.
. Gwangju, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

South Korean Lee Ok-sun, who was born in 1927 in Busan, South Korea, was taken in 1942 to an airfield in China where she was habitually raped. Later she was taken to various Japanese military brothels.

Lee poses in her room at the special shelter, "House of Sharing”, for “comfort women”.
. Gwangju, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Lee poses in her room at the special shelter, "House of Sharing”, for “comfort women”.

Lee shows a picture of herself taken in 1947, two years after Japan surrendered, when she applied for nationality in China. After the war ended she could not return to her hometown because she was ashamed of being a former “comfort woman”. Lee lived in China until June 2001.
. Gwangju, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Lee shows a picture of herself taken in 1947, two years after Japan surrendered, when she applied for nationality in China. After the war ended she could not return to her hometown because she was ashamed of being a former “comfort woman”. Lee lived in China until June 2001.

A Buddhist rosary hangs over a calendar and a piece of paper on which Park Ok-sun's current Korean nominal age “92” is written. Park was born in 1924 in Milyang, South Korea. In 1941, she was taken to a Japanese military brothel in China and suffered four years as a “comfort woman”.
. Gwangju, SOUTH KOREA. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A Buddhist rosary hangs over a calendar and a piece of paper on which Park Ok-sun's current Korean nominal age “92” is written. Park was born in 1924 in Milyang, South Korea. In 1941, she was taken to a Japanese military brothel in China and suffered four years as a “comfort woman”.