The Legacy of WWII Asian-Pacific Comfort Women
Background: In 2023, 4 more comfort women survivors from Taiwan, Mainland China, the Philippines, and South Korea left us. On a significant legal front, the UN issued a groundbreaking CEDAW ruling early in the year, holding the Filipino government accountable for its discrimination and neglect of Filipina comfort women. Later in 2023, the Seoul High Court made a historic decision, supporting a comfort women claim for compensation against Japan, marking a reversal of a previous ruling that had upheld Japan’s state immunity under international law. Despite these unprecedented developments, the reality is that the number of survivors is dwindling. In order to ensure that these women did not suffer in vain it is time to discuss their legacy – what are the lessons that we have learned and, in the future, should learn in regards to rape and sexual violence during conflicts?
Two-fold Objective: Firstly, to raise awareness and increase understanding of recent 2023 developments. Secondly, to celebrate the positive contributions that the comfort women movement has made towards advancing women’s rights in international law, and to point out areas for improvement.
SPEAKER LINE UP: Dean Gillian Lester, Judge Lillian Sing, Prof. Alexis Dudden, Ms.Indai Sajor, Chairwoman, Na-Young Lee, Ms.Sharon Cabusao-Silva, Prof. Diane Desierto, Dr. Thomas J. Ward, Prof. Katherine McGregor, Prof. Peipei Qiu, Prof. Edward Vickers
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