3. Introduction: History of Comfort Women Comfort Women (JugunIanfu) were the victims of sex slavery by the Japanese military troops before and during World War II (1942-1945) Women were kidnapped, forced, and/or tricked into becoming prostitutes for Japanese troops Earlier comfort women were Japanese prostitutes who volunteered for such a service The military found itself short of these women as Japan continued military expansion Turned to the local population to coerce women to serve the troops Soon the search was expanded to controlled territories: China, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Korea.
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5. Many women responded to calls for work as factory workers or nurses – unaware of the military’s true intentions.
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7. What was Involved? According to the House of Sharing, a human rights museum and a safe house for former comfort women, when a woman was captured or lured into comfort stations, she was given a medical examination to determine if she was a virgin or diseased She was then raped by the medical examiner and sent to her station Her identity was quickly stripped of her as she was given a Japanese flower name by the first person to rape her. The women's names were written on wooden blocks and hung up much like menus are at restaurants in Japan.
8. On average, comfort women served 30 men daily on weekdays Served up to 50 men daily on weekends The days leading up to the soldiers shipping out to the front lines were the worst times Having sex before going into battle was a sign of good luck and vitality Some men would even take pubic hair for good luck
9. Women were beaten if they failed to act as if they enjoyed it or showed resistance Extremely sore after just a few men with dozens still left until the day’s end Some were given a few minutes to a half hour in-between to rest, but most were given only a jar of cotton swabs soaked in disinfectant and told to quickly clean before the next man Sometimes they were given a single condom which had to be washed in between uses
10. Medical Maladies Women were checked biweekly for STIs/STDs Contracting one or becoming pregnant would lead to punishment If given a “clean” bill of health, the woman would be raped by her physician(s) after check-up To combat STIs Injections of Mercury 606 Their internal organs including their uterus were mostly destroyed through this method Forced hysterectomies
11. Pregnancy: The Worst Offense The most brutal punishment was reserved for women who had “let” themselves become pregnant Babies were forcibly aborted: Kicking or knifing by a group of soldiers Raped with hot irons until the baby died Babies were subsequently chopped up and fed to dogs in front of the women to serve as an everlasting reminder
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13. Comfort women who survived and were discovered by the Allied forces were not returned to their homelands; there was just too many of them
14. There is evidence supporting that American and European military personnel "recycled" many of the women for their own sexual use