The trauma of the „Comfort women” – or Sexual Crimes by the Japanese Armed Forces During the Asian War of 1937–1945

Abstract

Military equipment records list not only technical equipment but also livestock. Records kept by the Japanese military between 1937 and 1945 also included so-called comfort women and employee „comfort stations” (brothels established by the Japanese armed forces). Women working as comfort women were employed at the stations through inducements, trickery, or coercion. “Comfort women” had no legal rights, including protection from the military. After the war, women struggling with physical and mental health problems were ostracized by society.