Unfulfilled Justice: Human Rights Restoration for the Victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery

Abstract

In April 2010, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo, submitted a report to the UN, in which she wrote, “[t]he single most organized and well-documented movement for reparations for women is that for the so-called ‘comfort women.’” The Special Rapporteur reminded the international body that the victims of the “comfort women” system have long demanded an official apology: “Since the late 1980s, survivors have come forward to bear witness and mobilize international public opinion, asking for an official apology and reparation.” She further noted, “As victims of sexual crimes, they do not want to receive financial aid without an official apology and official recognition of State responsibility.” Rashida Manjoo made the point clear that there remained an unmet demand for legal justice for the victims of the “comfort women” in her report.2 On 6 August 2014, Navi Pillay, then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement, arguing that “[t]his is not an issue relegated to history. It is a current issue, as human rights violations against these women continue to occur as long as their rights to justice and reparation are not realized.” The former High Commissioner reaffirmed the victims’ rights to legal reparations and demanded the Japanese government stand accountable for the issue.3 Notwithstanding that the “comfort women” system was an organized and systematic crime forcefully carried out by the Japanese military, on 28 December 2015, the governments of South Korea and Japan announced that the issue was