Comfort Women Status and Issue of Strategic Rape Around the World - Coursework Example

"Comfort Women" Statue and Issue of "Strategic Rape" Around the World “Comfort women” are women from mainly Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand and the Philippines who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese Army during World War II. The Japanese created “comfort stations” that deprived women of their freedom and sexual rights. The Japanese “comfort system” denied the women the right to movement as well as forced them to engage in sexual labor. This system violated international human rights law because the law prohibits rape whether done during wartimes or not as a serious offence and punishable by long jail sentences. Recently, in July 2013, a monument was erected in Glendale, California, by the Glendale city to remind people of the sexual servitude that the Japanese Army imposed on the innocent women. The statue, of an Asian girl, has a commemorative inscription that reads, “I was a sex slave of the Japanese military.” This statue is dedicated to the 200,000 Asian women who were coerced by the Imperial Japanese Army from their homes in Taiwan, Japan, China, Thailand and the Philippines into sexual servitude (Jina 105-130).). The broad meaning of this “comfort women” statue is “peace monument,” and it was a stern warning about human rights violation, especially the women’s during the wartime. Through the writing on the monument, people could hear the cry of their unprotected souls. Although, the “comfort women” statue can be considered as an issue that must be handled between Japan and South Korea, where US must not be involved, the statue must not be removed. This is because it is a memorial monument that shows respect for all the women who were coerced by the Imperial Japanese Army officers into sex slavery and ended up being raped during the wartime to prohibit such kind of cruelties in the future (Smith-Spark 28). However, the Japanese government including the Members of Parliament wanted the statue to be removed and proceeded to push Glendale’s Mayor to do it and filing a petition for the same. Supposedly, the main reason that caused the objection of the existence of the statue and triggering its removal was that it depicted women as sex slaves (Smith-Spark 30). Sexual harassment and rape are evils that some military servicemen in various parts of the world do as a strategy to humiliate civilian populations. The military also use rape as a revenge for being defeated in particular wars. Thus, military officers end up preying and pouncing on innocent women during wars. For instance, there was a civil conflict in Guinea and many women were raped cruelly. The military men who were involved in the rape are said to have used that as a genocide act and cleansing of a particular ethnic group. The soldiers used the “strategic rape” to satiate their selfish desires. Strategic rape entailed the act of raping women for the purposes of territorial domination, emasculating enemy soldiers, demoralizing warlords and humiliating the families of the women as well as inducing fear akin to the acts done by the Japanese soldiers during World War II. Additionally, governments that control over peaceful countries are purposely using strategic rape to cause tension and terror among political rebels especially during election times. This has made such governments to perpetuate the crime of rape (Brown 24-37). There have been different views about the “comfort system” that resulted to the outrageous sexual exploitation of women. Some Japanese politicians such as Toru Hashimoto, the governor in Japan’s city of Osaka, made remarks about the comfort system, citing that it was necessary during the war. He asserted that the system was instrumental in maintaining discipline in the Japanese military as well as giving rest and comfort to the soldiers who were fighting in bullets-infested warzones. This created controversies and many politicians in the Japanese government strongly disapproved his evil sentiments. The Japanese government also distanced itself from Toru Hashimoto’s remarks but failed to come out clearly on its stand about the issues of comfort women and restitution possibilities (Smith-Spark 29). Moreover, his remarks displeased the neighboring Asian countries as well as feminist activists across the world. They highly condemned the remarks, insisting that the Osaka’s governor was callous and that his comments were outrageous and outright offensive. He had violated the demands of human rights by supporting rape. However, the Japanese political establishment has been unwilling to admit the liability of offering compensation to the victims and accepting that truly the Japanese soldiers subjected innocent women to sexual servitude during World War II. The Japanese government has refused to take any legal liability concerning the “comfort women,”69 years later after the World War II ended. The Japanese government has been reluctant on giving compensations to the women who were victims of the comfort system’s brutality. According to the law, the government ought to compensate all the women who were victims of the comfort system cruelty. The apologies from the government have been half-hearted since the government has not come out clearly to admit that the Japanese military coerced women into sexual servitude during the World War II. This is the reason as to why the government has not compensated the women who were victims of the comfort system. A legion of the”comfort women” has now become elderly, waiting for justice that has never been served. The women need recognition that the Japanese military used the comfort system as well as compensation for being used as sex objects during the World War II. The prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, once made a statement that there is no sufficient evidence and proof that the Imperial Japanese Army officers coerced women into their “comfort stations” for the purposes of forceful sex. This was one of the many incidences that top Japanese leaders have denied the Japanese military’s involvement in the recruitment of women into sex slavery (Smith-Spark 33). The government of Japan has never accepted responsibility, offered an apology or compensated the “comfort women” because of their baseless claims that the government did not participate in that cruel act. However, this is not true since history proves that the Japanese military evidently used women as objects of sex during World War II. Additionally, the statue, which is a memorial plaque in Glendale, must not be removed because it reminds people of the brutal acts of the Japanese Army during the World War II. Rape is a violation of human rights and it can never be viewed as a war tactic between two countries that are in wrangles. For instance, the unending war in DRC Congo is reported to have had numerous cases of rape. However, when analyzing strategic rape cases and looking for solutions to the cruelty, leaders and government stakeholders view it as a violation of human rights and not as an issue of national or continental crisis. Thus, any solution that might be generated, must solely hinge on the tenets of human rights and not rivalry or animosity between two states or countries (Levine 29). Recently, in March 2014, there were protests that were led by Korean Americans in Japan. These protests were aimed at throwing shots at the Glendale’s Mayor, Dave Weaver who had critiqued negatively about the existence of the “comfort women” monument erected in Glendale city. The Mayor had stated that there was no need for the memorial monument to be erected in the city since it did not have anything to do with the city. Many protesters lamented that their main disappointment was that Mayor Dave Weaver would tell the Japanese reporters that the statue should not have been erected in the city. During the protests, many protesters were championing for the presence of the statue in the city regardless of its significance to the city. The statue was an important defensive plaque that passed a strong message to the public about the cruelties that happened to the Japanese women in the World War II. Numbers of Asian Americans strongly support the protesters that the statue must not be removed since it is an indication of the sexual exploitation and harassment that the innocent “comfort women” went through during the war period (Jina 105-130). However, the most important reason for the presence of the statue at Glendale city is that the Japanese government and other countries will have a constant reminder of the violation of human rights that took place in the World War, while making reference to the “comfort women”. Additionally, the Japanese government must pay reparations to the “comfort women” by accepting their responsibility that the government played a predominant role in enticing innocent women into having sex against their will. The Japanese government is in denial since it cannot accept that it participated fully in the whole process of victimization of the “comfort women.” Thus, the statue will serve as a reminder to the selfish Japanese government that the women need their compensations, apologies and recognition in the history of Japan (Johnston 25). In conclusion, the “comfort women” statue is a treasure that the Japanese government must protect at all costs. The women were evidently innocent and they ended up being used as objects of sex. Therefore, the Japanese government must have the courtesy of letting the statue remain as it is, to acknowledge the “comfort woman” as important people in the history of the country. Moreover, the statue serves as a reminder and warning to people that sex slavery is as bad as homicide since it direly violates human rights. Works Cited Brown, Carly. “Rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Torture Vol. 22. (1 Nov. 2012): 24-37. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. Johnston, Eric. "'Comfort Women' statue spur debate." The Japan Times. The Japan Times. 27 February 2014. Web. 21 March 2014. Moore, Jina. "Confronting Rape as a War Crime." CQ Global Researcher 1 May 2010: 105-30. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Levine, Brittany. "Comfort-women Statue Dispute Continues." McClatchy - Tribune Business News, (2014): n. pg. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. Smith-Spark, Laura. "How did rape become a weapon of war?" BBC News. BBC. 08 Dec. 2004. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. Read More