Women who were forcibly taken to work at Japanese military brothels were raped, abused, and tormented daily while having to have sexual interaction with at least 30 Japanese soldiers a day were identified with the term “comfort women”(“Japan’s apologies on ‘comfort women’ not enough”(The Seattle Times)). Most of these women were Korean girls who are now mostly in their 80s, and they are still fighting and waiting for a proper apology from the Japanese government. Most of these women are covered in scars given by the beatings the soldiers gave, and some of them are paralyzed because they have been stabbed near the lower body where they have been abused by soldiers each night.

The Japanese government has already given an apology with a compensation. However, the compensation and money was only for the women who have suffered mental and physical damage during the Second World War, and the event was caused by the pressure the U.S had forced on both Japan and South Korea. The Japanese government still does not concede that they were at fault in the past for at girls at the age of at least twelve years.

According to the BBC News, Japan personally asked the government of South Korea if the history of comfort women could “settle down” by getting rid of the evidence of this event starting with the comfort women monument. The Japanese government’s action implies insincerity in their apology, and it shows that the pressure that the U.S. government had given them was the sole reason to why they apologized in the first place.

We cannot stand still as bystanders and we should help the comfort women receive a profound apology from Japan. We can start by educating people across the world through history books, the news, or even public speeches in order to raise awareness about the issue. Raising awareness could help gain supporters to help pursuing their goal.

<Juwon Chun Granada Hills Charter High 9th Grade>