How Did Ww2 Reflect The Treatment Of Women In Asia

Sexual Slavery in Asia

In Asia during WWII, women were treated as objects for military use and not citizens. Women were placed, kidnapped, and sold into comfort stations for Asia’s militaristic ideas. Women were raped, beaten, and tortured because of the views of the Asian governments. They were treated as objects solely for the use and benefit of soldiers. The phrase “comfort women” was a name used for women who were raped and housed in places called comfort stations (Comfort Women). The “Comfort women” during WWII reflect attitudes towards women because of sexist ideas in the region of Asia.

Comfort women in WWII originated because of militaristic ideas in the Japanese government. These militaristic ideas stated that the Japanese soldiers

The Rape of Nanking is considered one of the most horrible blood baths in Chinese history. This rape was during the Sino-Japanese War in 1937-45. Japan wanted military domination and conquest. Japanese troops overtook the city of Nanking on December 13th, it was a seven-week battle that consisted of over 20,000 Chinese women raped in special isolation camps or other incidents in the city ("Rape of Nanjing."). Families in the town were used as live dummies for military practice, and Chinese prisoners were lined up and shot. Iris Chang wrote a book about the rape in Nanking, which helped break the silence about the atrocities. Examples of the torture by Japan’s soldiers were women nailed to walls, breasts cut off, hanging by the tongue on iron hooks, fathers forced to rape family members while soldiers were watching, and burying people up to the waist and waiting for them to be torn apart (Lynch, Ami)(REMEMBER NANKING)(Fox, Margalit). The prime minister’s reaction to this was calling it a “fabrication,” and he thought it was wrong the war was called an aggression (Sangers). This type of torture was brutal and humiliating for the Chinese because the women were being used as bait and as objects not as people. This shows the attitudes towards women and how they affected Asia before and during WWII. The attitudes towards women caused brutal death and

The response to both these horrible things was lacking, and both governments showed no control and reparations directly after the incidents (Sanger). The attitudes towards women caused many atrocities throughout Asia because of simple disrespect and sexism. These governments took advantage of women and showed the littlest respect possible to them. Although the reparations in Asia were given to women it was long overdue and it took a long time to break the silence and get admittance. The admittance was broken and talked about when Iris Chang wrote a book about the atrocities and spoke for women who couldn’t speak for themselves (Lynch, Ami). Today to prevent actions like these there are associations like the AWU (Asian Women United) which helo oppressed women. These atrocities were denied for a long time and then finally reparations were given to women in 1991 (Letter to the Former Comfort Women). The prime minister of Japan even wrote a letter of remorse to all women who dealt with these horrible things and he said he didn’t just want to move on in Japan’s history but look back and make things right (Adrienne Wilmoth). Although it took Asia many years for admittance and repercussions for women it also allowed things like the Asain Women's Fund which helped women in the aftermath of the war. The Japanese also pledges 1 million