Quest for reparation

Estelita Dy’s childhood dream was to become a teacher. In 1944, those aspirations were shattered when 14-year-old Dy was kidnapped by Japanese soldiers and forced into sexual slavery. Amid the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Dy, now 93 years old, along with other former “comfort women,” reiterated last Saturday their longstanding demands for public acknowledgment and accountability.

The term “comfort women” euphemistically refers to the victims of the Japanese military’s sexual slavery system during World War II, estimated to have affected hundreds of thousands of girls and women from the Philippines, Korea, China, and other Japanese-occupied territories. To this day, the survivors, their relatives, and other organizations working on their behalf continue to seek an apology and reparations from the Japanese government.

Last May, President Marcos issued a statement vowing his administration would take the necessary steps to address the concerns of “comfort women.” This was a direct response to a ruling by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw), following a complaint filed by the nonprofit organization, Malaya Lolas, which supports “comfort women” survivors. In March 2023, the committee affirmed that previous Philippine governments had not fulfilled their obligations, and called for full reparation, material compensation, and an official apology for the discrimination these women still endure.

Public acknowledgment is a powerful force for those who have suffered injustices, facilitating healing and reconciliation with those who wronged them. When Archbishop Desmond Tutu was tasked with reviewing apartheid crimes in South Africa, he stressed that restorative justice—“concerned not so much with punishment as with correcting imbalances, restoring broken relationships”—could only come from full disclosure. Openly recognizing and admitting the truth is the first step toward rectifying past wrongs.

In Australia, public events often start with formal land acknowledgments recognizing indigenous communities’ rights to territories seized by colonial powers. While some critics label this gesture as performative, majority of indigenous activists and experts regard it as a crucial first step toward restitution and encourage more people to advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Kishida, the first Japanese prime minister to address the Philippine Congress, described Japan and the Philippines as experiencing a “golden age” of bilateral relations. While his speech touched on the challenging relationship the two countries had in the past, there was no mention of the plight of the Filipino “comfort women.” The PM did mention, however, that Japan will not forget the “spirit of tolerance” that the Philippines displayed in 1953 by pardoning Japanese war criminals, paving the way for a more amicable relationship.

Organizations dedicated to supporting former “comfort women” emphasize that a public acknowledgment of their cause is not only a matter of historical recognition but also one of justice and human rights. It is of utmost importance as these women feel they have been rendered invisible, consigned to a part of history that many would prefer to forget, making it difficult for their grievances to be addressed. A review of news articles on this topic revealed that it frequently attracts lewd comments and victim-blaming from the public, underscoring the vulnerability of these women’s experiences to invalidation and minimization.

Reparations from those in power remain elusive but we can contribute to restoring the human and civil dignity of the victims by advocating for their cause and reminding them that their stories and contributions matter. The Association for Asian Studies emphasizes the importance of integrating the personal stories of “comfort women” into educational materials. These narratives, though distressing, are essential for a comprehensive understanding of the immense human rights violations these women endured. They also enable educators to stress the significance of protecting human rights by providing students with a vivid insight into the long-term impact of such violations on people’s lives. In this regard, several groups, including the Gabriela Women’s Party, have recently proposed a bill that mandates the inclusion of “comfort women’s” experiences in history books and school textbooks.

Though she did not become a teacher, Dy said in a previous interview that she is dedicating the remaining years of her life to educating the next generation about the horrors of war, hoping to prevent the repetition of past mistakes. “We will continue to renounce war because we do not want the next generation to experience what we went through.

”As the number of surviving individuals dwindles, the urgency of championing their cause and sharing their stories has never been greater.

eleanor@shetalksasia.com