President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) promised on Sunday to assist Taiwanese “comfort women” in their legal efforts to obtain reparations from Japan.
During a call on one of the surviving “comfort women” in Taiwan, the president said his government would provide legal assistance to war victims seeking compensation and an apology from the Japanese authorities.
The 86-year-old woman, Lu Man-mei (盧滿妹) of Hsinchu County, was one of those who were forced to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers during World War II.
She is one of 13 surviving “comfort women” in Taiwan. In 1999, nine of the Taiwanese women filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, but it was dismissed by the Japanese Supreme Court in 2005.
During Ma’s visit, Lu showed him photos of herself when she was young. She had been working in a laundry until recently, but got hurt just before the Lunar New Year holiday and has not been able to return to work since then, she said.
During World War II, the Japanese army forced at least 400,000 women in China, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines into prostitution.
In Taiwan, the number of victims is estimated at between 1,200 and 2,000, but only 58 have been confirmed as war victims by the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation.
Most of the 13 surviving “comfort women” in Taiwan live alone and suffer from diseases related to uterus damage, according to the foundation.
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