Comfort Women of WWII

"MILITARY COMFORT WOMEN" CONSIDERED IN

The term "comfort women" became a part of the public consciousness in the United States in 1992, when some women in Korea came forward to demand an official apology and compensation for the actions of the Japanese military during the occupation of Korea by Japan from 1938 to 1945. These Korean women accused the Japanese military of forcing them to work in brothels to provide sexual services for Japanese soldiers stationed in Korea.

The Korean women involved in the accusations and demands against Japan have a justifiable case. Their experiences, however, are not unique. While the term "comfort women" may be unfamiliar in western nations, the practice of supplying women to provide sexual services is not unique to eastern cultures, and the practice significantly predates the KoreanJapanese case (Barry, 1979, p. 14).

The practice of supplying women to provide sexual services for soldiers is probably as old as is the raising and use of armies. As official policy, however, the practice dates at least back to the French Revolution (Barry, 1979, p. 14). "During the French Revolution . . . venereal disease became a major problem in the armies; it was so widespread that it often undermined military effectiveness. This situation motivated a renewed interest in regulating prostitution. The chief concern was to find a way to prevent the disease without inhibiting so

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advertisements, but the requirement to provide sexual services for American military personnel was not mentioned (Yoyori, 1977, p. 28). Where the Japanese actions in Korea in providing "comfort women" for their own soldiers involved the overt oppression of Korean women, their actions in their own country in providing "comfort girls" for American soldiers was quasieconomic in character. The "comfort girls" in Japan functioned and were paid as traditional prostitutes. The funding for the operation, however, was governmental. A slight variation on the Japanese approach was applied by the French in Corsica, the home to about onethird of the French Foreign Legion (Barry, 1979, p. 70). In Corsica, the Legion desired to provide sexual services for the Legionnaires within a diseasefree environment, to minimize any impact on military effectiveness. While a decision was taken to establish brothels for the exclusive use of the Legionnaires, the Legion depended upon procurers to supply the girls (Barry, 1979, p. 71). These brothels were known as BMCs (Bordel Mobile de Campagnemobile field brothels), were controlled by the military command of the Legion, but were staffed by procurers (Barry, 1979, p. 71). The existence of the BMC

Category: Foreign - C