Remembering for peace: The tragedy of 400,000 WWII 'comfort women'

August 14 marks the International Memorial Day for Comfort Women, a day dedicated to remembering the victims of the Japanese military's wartime sexual slavery system and calling for peace and justice. The date was designated as a day of remembrance at the 11th Asian Solidarity Conference in 2012, an international gathering focused on addressing the "comfort women" issue.

Nearly a century has passed since the first women were forced into sexual slavery by Imperial Japan during World War II, yet the memories of their suffering remain deeply painful today.

From 1931 to 1945, an estimated 400,000 women from about 11 Asian countries and regions were coerced into serving as "comfort women" for the Japanese military. Most victims came from China, the Korean Peninsula and the Philippines, with others from Myanmar, East Timor, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and several additional regions.

China was the most heavily affected. Chinese scholars estimated that more than 200,000 Chinese women were victimized under this system.

Nowadays, there are only six registered survivors of the "comfort women" system on the Chinese mainland. 

These women and girls were taken or deceived into military-run brothels, where they were forced into sexual servitude and denied basic human rights. Survivors' testimonies describe severe mistreatment, physical and emotional trauma, and long-lasting harm to their health and dignity.

Yet decades after the end of the war, many survivors and their families continue to seek truth, justice and reparations.

In March, UN experts expressed grave concern at the continued lack of justice for survivors of the "comfort women" system.

"Nearly 80 years on, victims and their families continue to face the denial of their right to truth, justice, reparation and memorialization," the experts said.

The experts called on Japan to recognize and fulfill survivors' rights to justice, reparations and full and effective remedy, including through official apologies, adequate compensation and guarantees of non-repetition. They stressed the importance of preserving historical memory through educational materials, memorials and commemoration.

Noting the victims and survivors have waited decades for recognition, apologies and remedy, the experts urged all relevant countries to act without further delay.

Calls for Japan to fully acknowledge its wartime responsibilities continue in countries including South Korea and the Philippines, where civil society groups and survivors' advocates regularly hold commemorative events and public demonstrations.

In South Korea, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan held its 1,765th Wednesday Demonstration for resolving the comfort women issue ahead of the 14th International Memorial Day for Comfort Women in coordination with 222 other groups in 10 countries around the world.

Several posters were displayed in front of a statue of a young woman in Seoul's Jongno District. The statue of the young woman, one of a series installed in South Korea and elsewhere, symbolizes the "comfort women."

The posters read: "We will pray for a world in which women are no longer victimized," "The issue of sexual slavery for the Japanese army isn't a matter of the past, but the present!" "Peace in this land, and honor and human rights for the former comfort women!"

Read more: Last Daughters: CGTN tracks voices of Chinese and Filipina WWII sex slaves