COMFORT WOMEN

Forgotten Women 1996 

Caption in context of 1996:  

In a basement apartments in Seoul, South Korea, four grandmothers in their 70's live together as a family. For 50 years, these women have kept their secrets, too ashamed to tell the world and their families.  

These were peasant girls from poor families in small villages throughout Korea. They were promised good jobs doing laundry and cooking for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. But when these women, many in their teens, arrived at their destinations, they found themselves forced to be sex slaves at "comfort stations".  

The women were forced to provide 30 to 40 sexual services a day to Japanese soldiers. Most lost their virginity this way. If they resisted, they were beaten. For the Japanese Army, these women were considered "war supplies". 

About 200,000 women from Asia, are believed to have been forced into sexual slavery. 

Caption with each picture 

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