Asia: Former 'comfort women' emerge from lonely isolation
11/01/2007
BY AYA KIMURA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
ROXAS, Philippines--They were raped and raped again, forced to endure months or years as "comfort women" used for sex by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Today, Filipina survivors of that horrendous experience, including one 91-year-old woman, have banded together to support each other and ensure that their suffering is not forgotten.
Called Lolas Kampanyera (Campaigning grandmothers), the group meets once a month in this city on the island of Panay. They are helped by their daughters or other people, and together they declare that such brutalities must never again be forced on women.
Their daughters hope to ease their mothers' painful memories by listening to their descriptions of what they suffered. In doing so, the daughters hope their mothers will feel encouraged. They also want society to welcome them back from many years of shame and isolation.
Roxas, in Capiz province in the northern part of Panay island, is about an hour's flight from Manila on Luzon island. It is a fishing port with a population of about 130,000.
At the monthly meetings, held at hotels or other places, the women sing together, choosing songs like, "You Are My Sunshine." Around them, younger women clap and sing along.
The elderly women are dressed in their finery, with makeup on their faces.
The group was set up in 2000 by women who came forward to declare their painful wartime histories. It has now about 100 members, of whom 75 are former comfort women. The others are mostly their daughters.
Chalito Longanillya, 51, is one daughter. She says that she cannot forget the words her father would shout at her mother whenever he drank too much.
"You are nothing but the leftovers of Japanese soldiers," he would tell her.
Longanillya heard him say such words as a child, but she did not understand their full import! until much later. All she knew is that they left her mother in tears.
In 2000, she and her mother heard a Roxas woman speaking on the radio.
"I was a victim of sexual violence committed by Japanese soldiers (during World War II)," the woman's voice said. "I encourage any women who went through that same experience to come forward and publicly announce that they too were victims."
Longanillya's mother turned to her and said, "I was also a victim." It was the first time she had ever mentioned her past to her daughter.
Here is what happened:
One day in 1942, when she was in her early teens, Japanese soldiers abducted her from where she was playing in a tree near her home.
The soldiers took her to an Imperial Japanese Army camp, where she was raped for two weeks. She was then released.
After the war ended in 1945, Longanillya's mother gave birth to four boys and Longanillya, her only daughter. She never told her sons about her experiences.
"My mother told me because I was her only daughter. I am glad I heard it directly from my mother. I wanted to help her face up to her fate," Longanillya said.
Longanillya and her mother joined Lolas Kampanyera together. In talking with others who went through similar experiences, her mother came to realize that she was not to blame.
"I do not feel ashamed, even if I were to speak of my experiences throughout the world," Longanillya quoted her mother as saying.
In Lolas Kampanyera, each younger member looks after three to five of the former victims. They tell the elderly women of what meetings the group has planned and also help them in their daily lives.
Sometimes, they shoulder their financial burdens, paying for transportation or medicines. They also open up their houses when the elderly women travel to Roxas from other parts of the province.
They aim to look after the elderly women as though they were their real mothers.
In rural communities, everyone knows everyone else. In such a society, it requires great courage for an elderly woman to admit that she was a former comfort woman. Even her family members do not necessarily show understandings to her.
In such cases, the Lolas group offers support. They listen to the elderly women's stories and encourage them to do what they feel they must do.
In some cases, daughters continue to work for the group even after their own mothers have passed away.
Judy Malasa, 50, is one such daughter. She learned in 2000 that her mother-in-law had been a comfort woman, but the woman's son--Malasa's husband--did not want anyone to know.
He also did not like the idea of the group. Malasa, too, feared what their community's reactions might be when her mother-in-law spoke up.
However, her mother-in-law was adamant.
"I want to make a society in which such a thing can never happen to you. So, join and support us," she told Malasa.
Her mother-in-law died last year.
"My mother-in-law lived in silent agony for more than 60 years. I regret that I never noticed how much she suffered," Malasa said.
She plans to work for the Lolas group in honor of her mother-in-law.
The first woman in the Philippines to reveal her past as a sexual prisoner was Maria Rosa L. Henson, who spoke up publicly in 1992.
She came forward in response to calls from citizens groups working to expose the sexual violence committed by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
In 1993, Henson and other former Filipino comfort women joined a lawsuit filed at the Tokyo District Court demanding an apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
They also set up Lila Pilipina (League of grandmothers in the Philippines) to organize their campaign for justice.
Henson died in 1997.
Meanwhile, in 1995, the Japanese government set up the Asian Women's Fund, which offered 2 million yen each to former comfort women in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. The money did not come from the government, however. The 600 million yen in the fund was donated privately.
Some of the former comfort women strongly protested the offer and refused to accept payment on grounds that the government had not shown remorse for its wartime actions.
A rift developed among the former comfort women, some of whom accepted payments.
Unlike in South Korea or Taiwan, the Philippine government positively helped to distribute the money, and granted the former comfort women official recognition.
Many were poor and needed the money simply to survive. Some of the wartime victims had been unable to marry because of the stigma. They had lived lives filled with deprivation, loneliness and pain.
Those who did not accept the money said it was because it was not official compensation from the Japanese government. The Lila Pilipina group split apart, and some women formed a group named Malaya Lolas (free grandmothers).
Most of the women in Lolas Kampanyera have also not taken any money from the fund. They continue to demand an official apology and official compensation from the Japanese government.
At the same time, they are working to spread understanding about the truth of the former comfort women among local communities.(IHT/Asahi: November 1,2007)
11/01/2007
BY AYA KIMURA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
ROXAS, Philippines--They were raped and raped again, forced to endure months or years as "comfort women" used for sex by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Today, Filipina survivors of that horrendous experience, including one 91-year-old woman, have banded together to support each other and ensure that their suffering is not forgotten.
Called Lolas Kampanyera (Campaigning grandmothers), the group meets once a month in this city on the island of Panay. They are helped by their daughters or other people, and together they declare that such brutalities must never again be forced on women.
Their daughters hope to ease their mothers' painful memories by listening to their descriptions of what they suffered. In doing so, the daughters hope their mothers will feel encouraged. They also want society to welcome them back from many years of shame and isolation.
Roxas, in Capiz province in the northern part of Panay island, is about an hour's flight from Manila on Luzon island. It is a fishing port with a population of about 130,000.
At the monthly meetings, held at hotels or other places, the women sing together, choosing songs like, "You Are My Sunshine." Around them, younger women clap and sing along.
The elderly women are dressed in their finery, with makeup on their faces.
The group was set up in 2000 by women who came forward to declare their painful wartime histories. It has now about 100 members, of whom 75 are former comfort women. The others are mostly their daughters.
Chalito Longanillya, 51, is one daughter. She says that she cannot forget the words her father would shout at her mother whenever he drank too much.
"You are nothing but the leftovers of Japanese soldiers," he would tell her.
Longanillya heard him say such words as a child, but she did not understand their full import! until much later. All she knew is that they left her mother in tears.
In 2000, she and her mother heard a Roxas woman speaking on the radio.
"I was a victim of sexual violence committed by Japanese soldiers (during World War II)," the woman's voice said. "I encourage any women who went through that same experience to come forward and publicly announce that they too were victims."
Longanillya's mother turned to her and said, "I was also a victim." It was the first time she had ever mentioned her past to her daughter.
Here is what happened:
One day in 1942, when she was in her early teens, Japanese soldiers abducted her from where she was playing in a tree near her home.
The soldiers took her to an Imperial Japanese Army camp, where she was raped for two weeks. She was then released.
After the war ended in 1945, Longanillya's mother gave birth to four boys and Longanillya, her only daughter. She never told her sons about her experiences.
"My mother told me because I was her only daughter. I am glad I heard it directly from my mother. I wanted to help her face up to her fate," Longanillya said.
Longanillya and her mother joined Lolas Kampanyera together. In talking with others who went through similar experiences, her mother came to realize that she was not to blame.
"I do not feel ashamed, even if I were to speak of my experiences throughout the world," Longanillya quoted her mother as saying.
In Lolas Kampanyera, each younger member looks after three to five of the former victims. They tell the elderly women of what meetings the group has planned and also help them in their daily lives.
Sometimes, they shoulder their financial burdens, paying for transportation or medicines. They also open up their houses when the elderly women travel to Roxas from other parts of the province.
They aim to look after the elderly women as though they were their real mothers.
In rural communities, everyone knows everyone else. In such a society, it requires great courage for an elderly woman to admit that she was a former comfort woman. Even her family members do not necessarily show understandings to her.
In such cases, the Lolas group offers support. They listen to the elderly women's stories and encourage them to do what they feel they must do.
In some cases, daughters continue to work for the group even after their own mothers have passed away.
Judy Malasa, 50, is one such daughter. She learned in 2000 that her mother-in-law had been a comfort woman, but the woman's son--Malasa's husband--did not want anyone to know.
He also did not like the idea of the group. Malasa, too, feared what their community's reactions might be when her mother-in-law spoke up.
However, her mother-in-law was adamant.
"I want to make a society in which such a thing can never happen to you. So, join and support us," she told Malasa.
Her mother-in-law died last year.
"My mother-in-law lived in silent agony for more than 60 years. I regret that I never noticed how much she suffered," Malasa said.
She plans to work for the Lolas group in honor of her mother-in-law.
The first woman in the Philippines to reveal her past as a sexual prisoner was Maria Rosa L. Henson, who spoke up publicly in 1992.
She came forward in response to calls from citizens groups working to expose the sexual violence committed by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
In 1993, Henson and other former Filipino comfort women joined a lawsuit filed at the Tokyo District Court demanding an apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
They also set up Lila Pilipina (League of grandmothers in the Philippines) to organize their campaign for justice.
Henson died in 1997.
Meanwhile, in 1995, the Japanese government set up the Asian Women's Fund, which offered 2 million yen each to former comfort women in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. The money did not come from the government, however. The 600 million yen in the fund was donated privately.
Some of the former comfort women strongly protested the offer and refused to accept payment on grounds that the government had not shown remorse for its wartime actions.
A rift developed among the former comfort women, some of whom accepted payments.
Unlike in South Korea or Taiwan, the Philippine government positively helped to distribute the money, and granted the former comfort women official recognition.
Many were poor and needed the money simply to survive. Some of the wartime victims had been unable to marry because of the stigma. They had lived lives filled with deprivation, loneliness and pain.
Those who did not accept the money said it was because it was not official compensation from the Japanese government. The Lila Pilipina group split apart, and some women formed a group named Malaya Lolas (free grandmothers).
Most of the women in Lolas Kampanyera have also not taken any money from the fund. They continue to demand an official apology and official compensation from the Japanese government.
At the same time, they are working to spread understanding about the truth of the former comfort women among local communities.(IHT/Asahi: November 1,2007)