Comfort Women. 1932-1945
Beginning in Shanghai in territory conceded by the Chinese to the Japanese, comfort stations were established for the benefit of Japanese troops. Japan had long offered legalized and open prostitution, and military leaders believed that a similar situation would help establish better discipline among the troops, particularly occupation forces, as well as lower rates of venereal disease.
Although the Japanese military hierarchy did not pay particular attention to charges of rape against their troops, they were aware of the potential for retaliation from friends and family of rape victims which could place the troops in danger.
Initially the Japanese attempted to recruit women to act serve as prostitutes in the comfort stations but when their efforts failed to generate sufficient numbers they resorted to kidnapping and forced slavery. As the war went on the central military command in Japan experienced difficulty in providing supplies to front line units, and the responsibility for the establishment and maintenance of comfort stations became an issue for local military commanders, who did little to distinguish rape from the use of the stations, regarded as brothels by the military.
Although the Japanese promised financial compensation for many of the women assigned to comfort stations very few were ever paid. Medical care was also scarce, and when the comfort stations were found to have little negative effect on rates of venereal disease – and may have in fact increased them – women who were found to be infected were simply turned out.
Comfort women were brought to China from other nations overrun by the Japanese Army including Korea, Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies. Documents revealed in the 21st century indicate that more than 200,000 women were forced to serve as comfort women in China during the war. Japanese racial attitudes towards the Chinese led to many suffering severe beatings for various reasons, including sexual gratification, and up to 75% died while assigned to the brothels. Many of the islanders seen to commit suicide by jumping from the cliffs on Saipan were actually comfort women, according to Japanese and American records.