Comfort women

Comfort women is a euphemism for women who were forced to work as sex slaves in military brothels in Japanese-occupied countries during World War II. In the Japanese language, ianfu (慰安婦, comfort women) is a term coined by Asahi Shinbun in the 1980s to refer to these wartime prostitutes. jūgun-ianfu (従軍慰安婦, "military comfort women"), those who served in Japanese military brothels during World War II in Japanese colonies and war zones, was also used, but is seen infrequently these days.

Military brothels, human trafficking, and sexual slavery in context

One criticism of general reporting on the issue of comfort women in Western countries is that the media buzz has subtly altered the image of the military brothel, making it appear that the concept is uniquely Japanese. Military brothels are not unique to Japan, though the Japanese military brothel system during WWII was on a scale and level of organizational sophistication rarely seen in history.

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However, Western militaries have also utilised such institutions for the same reasons the Japanese military did: to prevent STDs, to maintain the morale of the troops, and to allow soldiers to have sex near the front line. For example, during the American occupation of Japan, the U.S. army used military brothels set up by the Japanese government known as the Recreation and Amusement Association. Many Japanese women worked there under economic hardship and debt bondage. South Korea had a similar system during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The women who worked in those brothels were at least partially kidnapped sex slaves, as was the case with the Japanese. There were also brothels for the exclusive use of U.S. soldiers inside certain camps in the Vietnam War; the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong had their own brothels.

Related Topics:
Recreation and Amusement Association - Korean War - Vietnam War

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In recent years, reporters witnessed a rapid increase in prostitution in Cambodia and Bosnia after U.N. peacekeeping forces moved in. There was one highly publicised case where members of the U.N. peacekeeping force were accused of direct involvement in procurement of sex slaves for a local brothel in Bosnia. Setting up such an institution in an economically deprived area is bound to involve a degree of forced prostitution, but the use of agents for procurement and management of brothels has allowed the military to believe itself shielded from the issue of sexual slavery and human trafficking. NATO forces have been linked to prostitution and forced prostitution in Bosnia and Kosovo and U.N. forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. See the links below for articles on peacekeeping forces and forced prostitution.

Related Topics:
Cambodia - Bosnia - U.N. - Peacekeeping - Sexual slavery - Human trafficking - NATO - Kosovo - Democratic Republic of the Congo

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