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Abstract

Using survivor testimonies, military records and statements from human rights organizations, this paper lays out the undeniable truth of the “comfort women” system. This truth is recognized by the international community and maintains that the Japanese government and Japanese Imperial Army instituted and maintained the largest system of sexual slavery in the 20th century. These testimonies provide the factual counterpoint to the historical denialism of Harvard Professor J. Mark Ramseyer as well as the Japanese government. The “comfort women” survivors’ experiences, since breaking a 40-year silence in the 1990s, manifest a resilience and sense of purpose in demanding an accounting and apology from Japan. In addition, it shows these women to be activists in the fight to end gender violence worldwide. These women and their supporters forged a transnational movement and helped declare rape during wartime a crime against humanity. Their efforts are part of a worldwide struggle to establish the right to truth as a fundamental human right.

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