August 14 marks the International Memorial Day for Comfort Women, a day dedicated to remembering the women victims forced into sexual slavery system by the Japanese armed forces during World War II.
The date was designated as a day to remember them at the 11th Asian Solidarity Conference in 2012, an international gathering focused on addressing this war crime.
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 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 other regions.
Chinese scholars estimated that more than 200,000 Chinese women were victimized under this system.
There are only six registered survivors of the sexual slaves alive now 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.
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."
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.
Calls for Japan to fully acknowledge its wartime responsibilities continue in countries including the Republic of Korea and the Philippines, where civil society groups and survivors' advocates regularly hold commemorative events and public demonstrations.
Women forced into sexual slavery in WWII commemorated
