The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has approved an installation for a comfort women memorial, recognizing women who were coerced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. But the process for establishing this memorial has been slow because the Japanese Embassy believes it is divisive.
“Comfort women” is a euphemism for these girls and women who were coerced to be sex slaves. Over 200,000 women from South Korea, China, Philippines and other countries that were occupied by Japan were beaten, tortured and raped during World War II.
But the surviving comfort women are aging and their stories are about to be faded away. Supporters, including the Comfort Women Justice Coalition, hope to build the memorial in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood.
