Comfort women

Women and girls coerced or deceived into sexual slavery in brothels run by or for the Japanese military, especially during World War II.

Japanese military sexual slavery: A system in which the Japanese military organized or facilitated sexual exploitation of women and girls, chiefly during World War II. This broader term captures the organized system behind the euphemism “comfort women.”
Second Sino-Japanese War: The war between Japan and China that began in 1937 and became part of World War II in Asia. Japanese military brothels expanded during this war, before Japan’s wider Pacific conflict.
Kim Hak-sun: A Korean survivor who publicly testified in 1991 about being forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military. Her testimony helped break the silence surrounding survivors’ experiences.
Wednesday demonstrations: Weekly protests in Seoul calling for acknowledgment and redress for survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery. Survivors and supporters have used these demonstrations to press their demands publicly.
Comfort stations: Facilities established or used by the Japanese military where women were subjected to sexual exploitation. This official-era euphemism names the sites without conveying the coercion involved.
Recruitment of comfort women: The methods used to procure women and girls for Japanese military brothels, including coercion, deception, and trafficking. Recruitment varied, but many victims were deceived or forced into the system.
Pacific War: The conflict in Asia and the Pacific between Japan and the Allied powers from 1941 to 1945. Military expansion across the region brought the system to more occupied territories.
Yoshimi Yoshiaki: A Japanese historian whose research documented the military’s role in the comfort women system. His archival findings helped establish official military involvement.
Asian Women's Fund: A Japanese private fund established in 1995 to provide atonement payments and support to survivors of wartime sexual slavery. Its approach to compensation drew disagreement over whether it constituted adequate state redress.
Forced prostitution: Prostitution imposed through coercion, threats, deception, or abuse of vulnerability. The label can describe the abuse but may understate survivors’ confinement and repeated rape.

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