On this day, 5 August 1993, the Japanese government finally admitted that it forced women to work in military brothels from 1932-1945 (content note: this post contains mention of sexual violence). Up to 200,000 women and young girls, mostly from Korea and China, but with others from Japan, the Philippines and some European settlers in Dutch Indonesia were either abducted or tricked and sent to over 100 brothels, supposedly in an effort to prevent an occurrence of the mass rapes which took place during the Nanjing massacre.
The United Nations estimates that 90% of the so-called "comfort women" died during World War II, but some survived and later were courageous enough to tell their stories, which was essential as Japanese officials destroyed much of their documentation. Others killed themselves due to the shame they felt.
Despite admitting the sex slavery, many Japanese politicians and nationalists today try to deny that it ever took place. After Japan was defeated, Japanese authorities established domestic brothels for the use of US occupation troops. Some women were recruited to work in the brothels under false pretences after they applied for fake office jobs.
The government and businessmen operated the new network brothels under the "Recreation and Amusement Association" which was funded by the government. By the end of 1945 70,000 women were working for the RAA. US occupation forces were well aware that many of the women were coerced, with a military memo stating "the practice of enslaving girls, while much less prevalent than in the past, still exists", although it is unclear if they included enslaved women abducted from occupied areas. With complaints from military chaplains, sexually-transmitted diseases running rampant, and fear of criticism back home, the US military eventually declared the brothels off-limits on 25 March 1946.
Pictured: four Korean comfort women after liberation in China, 1944
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