History Brings Us Together, May Understanding Ease the Pain: Press Conference on "Including the History of Taiwanese 'Comfort Women' in the Academia Sinica's Institute of Taiwan History / Academia Historica"

August 14 is Global Comfort Women Memorial Day, commemorating Ms. Kim Hak-sun, the first woman in South Korea to step forward, and all other "comfort women." It was through the courageous act of Ms. Kim Hak-sun in stepping forward to expose the "comfort women" system to the world that this violation of women's human rights during World War II was brought to light. On August 11, just ahead of August 14, the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) co-organized a press conference with "Ah Ma's House in Taichung," an exhibition unit hosted by the Judicial Reform Foundation Taichung Office.

The main demands of this year's press conference are: "History must not be forgotten, and the truth must be understood. The history of World War II 'comfort women' as military sexual slaves is part of the collective traumatic memory of Taiwanese women. The government should attach importance to this and include the history of Taiwanese 'comfort women' in the Academia Historica, the curriculum guidelines of the K-12 Education Administration, and popular books on Taiwanese history." TWRF has long been dedicated to services and advocacy regarding "comfort women." As time passes, Taiwan's "comfort women" grandmothers (Ah Mas) are leaving us one by one, with only one grandmother remaining this year; recording their stories and trauma has become an urgent task.

This year's press conference invited distinguished guests such as Judicial Reform Foundation Director Hsiao I-min, National Human Rights Commission Member Yeh Ta-hua, Legislator Fan Yun, Academia Historica Deputy Director Hsu Jui-hao, and National Human Rights Museum Deputy Director Chang Chan-chuan to attend and jointly commemorate this group of courageous women.

The "history of comfort women" is a collective traumatic memory for Taiwanese women, yet the government and scholars have paid little attention to this history of wartime violations of women's human rights, dedicating only minimal space to it in seventh-grade and tenth-grade textbooks. Under the 108 Curriculum Guidelines, "comfort women" only appear in the explanatory notes under the theme "Gender and History" in senior high school grade 12 history. To this day, some teaching staff, students, and members of the public still mistakenly believe they served as "comfort women" voluntarily. This has led to misunderstandings of this historical fact, causing damage to the reputations of survivors and their families. Furthermore, popular books on Taiwanese history sold in the market rarely mention this history of military sexual violence, and Academia Historica, which records Taiwan's history, lacks any thematic or specialized historical records on this subject.

The "comfort women"—military sexual slavery incident is not only national history, but also a gender and human rights issue. The government should actively promote this in the same manner as the February 28 Incident, incorporating it into the records of Academia Historica and national curriculum guidelines, correcting erroneous data on Taiwanese history, and strengthening the portrayal of female roles in order to restore historical truth and prevent the public or students from receiving erroneous historical education.

Tu Ying-chiu, Executive Director of TWRF, stated that in order to understand public opinion on including the history of Taiwanese "comfort women"—military sexual slavery in Academia Historica, curriculum guidelines, and Taiwanese history books, an online poll was conducted, receiving a total of 677 responses. As many as 53.2% of respondents answered "uncertain whether schools teach the history of comfort women" or "schools do not teach the history of comfort women." The public mostly obtained information about comfort women from television news and documentaries, while all other channels scored below 50%, including relevant research books, history textbooks, literary novels, and films, demonstrating how the comfort women issue has been neglected by all sectors of society. Meanwhile, more than 90% of the public supported including the history of comfort women in the curriculum guidelines, officially naming them "comfort women—military sexual slaves," and writing about them in history and civics textbooks, demonstrating strong public support and concern for this issue.

Legislator Fan Yun pointed out that "comfort women" should be correctly named "military sexual slaves." This is a part of Taiwan's history and a clear instance of military sexual violence that truly occurred during wartime. It should be clearly and accurately understood, allowing our citizens to better grasp the underlying meanings of anti-war sentiments, opposition to sexual violence, and human rights education. Legislator Fan Yun emphasized: "Only one of Taiwan's comfort women grandmothers is still alive today. Restoring justice and dignity to the grandmothers should not wait any longer!" Fan Yun and TWRF jointly called for this history to be incorporated into Academia Historica, curriculum guidelines, and popular books on Taiwanese history, stating, "Remembering gender-based violence is the first step toward understanding and preventing gender-based violence; history must be remembered, for only then can we truly understand the truth and alleviate the pain."

Academia Historica Deputy Director Hsu Jui-hao attended the press conference on behalf of Director Chen I-shen, who was unable to attend in person due to other official duties, to express his care and emphasis on the matter. Hsu Jui-hao stated: "Protecting women's rights and promoting gender equality is not only a basic national policy stipulated by the Constitution, but also an important human rights indicator for a modern democratic country. Academia Historica has always actively collected historical materials concerning women. Over the past decade or more, it has convened several seminars on the collection of women's historical materials, broadly inviting women's groups, scholars, and experts to attend. More than twenty women's groups participated, and after the meetings, they successively donated archives, cultural artifacts, photographs, and audiovisual materials for Academia Historica's collection."
Hsu Jui-hao also pointed out that Academia Historica has long established a dedicated fonds for "women's historical materials" and is currently planning to build a dedicated webpage for women's historical materials on its official website. This will showcase the collection of women's historical materials and link to important domestic and foreign research resources such as databases. In the future, it will expand the collection of women's historical materials—not only comfort women materials, but also other issues related to women's rescue, women's rights, and the women's movement. As long as the relevant materials have historical significance and value, Academia Historica will be happy to collect them, organize them properly as soon as possible, and open them up for reference and application by all sectors.

Over the past thirty years, to compensate for the shortcomings of textbooks and Taiwanese history books, TWRF has not only independently produced the film *Grandma's Secret* and published the picture book *The Reed Flowers Bloom*, but has also long held exhibitions and lectures in the hope of enhancing public awareness of the issue of Taiwanese comfort women history through various channels. This year, it even brought Ah Ma's House to Taichung, co-hosting the special exhibition "Ah Ma's House in Taichung" with the Judicial Reform Foundation, allowing the public and students in central and southern Taiwan to witness the life trajectories of the grandmothers.
In the second half of the year, the Ah Ma's House: Museum of Peace and Women's Human Rights is launching a brand-new special exhibition titled "Restoring Your Heart: Trauma and Recovery of Sexual Violence Victims," collaborating with the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to exhibit the "#MeToo Pioneer Special Exhibition," and partnering with Kishu An Forest of Literature to hold "Historical Human Rights Training and Salons." It is hoped that the government will attach importance to the inclusion of comfort women historical materials in Academia Historica and curriculum guidelines, and that private publishing houses will incorporate this history into the context of Taiwanese history. Through multi-faceted advocacy and promotion, the nation's citizens can develop a deeper understanding of their own history.

※Event Time: Thursday, August 11, 2022, 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM
※Event Location: Ah Ma's House: Museum of Peace and Women's Human Rights (5th Fl., No. 32, Sec. 3, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City)
◎About a 5-minute walk from Exit 5 of MRT Minquan West Road Station, or about an 8-minute walk from Exit 1 or 6
※Event Schedule:
13:30 Guests arrive and take seats
14:00 Press conference begins / Introduction of guests
14:03 One minute of silence to mourn the deceased "comfort women" grandmothers
14:05 Remarks by Chairperson Yeh Te-lan
14:07 Announcement of poll statistical results
14:10 Remarks by distinguished guests
Attorney Lin Chih-chung, Board Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation
Yeh Ta-hua, Member of the National Human Rights Commission
Fan Yun, Legislator
Hsu Jui-hao, Deputy Director of Academia Historica
14:25 Declaration of demands and group photo
14:30 Press conference ends

Press Contacts

Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, Wu Szu-en (02)2555-8595 #15
Judicial Reform Foundation Taichung Office, Advocacy Specialist Hsieh Chia-chen (04)2329-2372 #11
Judicial Reform Foundation Taichung Office, Legal Specialist Chang Hua-che (04)2329-2372 #13