The history of Taiwanese “comfort women” — whom the Japanese military forced into sexual slavery during World War II — should be listed as a specific subject in the 108 School Curriculum Guidelines, the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation said yesterday as the world observed International Comfort Women’s Day.
Foundation chairwoman Tsai En-chia (蔡恩加) told a news conference in Taipei that this year was the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
“People in Taiwan have the right to know the truth about Taiwanese comfort women, which was part of Taiwan’s history, as well as World War II history,” Tsai said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation
The foundation has advocated for years that the government include Taiwanese comfort women as a specific subject in the 108 School Curriculum Guidelines, which govern the compilation of materials to be taught in elementary, junior high and high schools.
The topic should not simply be listed in the additional information section of the guidelines, she said.
However, the Ministry of Education has been slow in ensuring that the history of military sex slaves be included in textbooks and that teachers have guidelines to design relevant courses, she added.
The foundation and other women’s rights groups have been urging the government to build a museum honoring women’s rights and gender equality, but the government has yet to respond to such a proposal, Tsai said.
National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations founding chairwoman Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said women and children suffer the most in wars around the world.
A museum honoring women’s rights and gender equality would let the people sense the brutality, and learn important lessons through historical documents and artifacts, she said.
The foundation released the results of a survey on people’s knowledge of history related to comfort women and military sex slaves.
The survey, which was conducted from July 16 to Sunday, garnered 814 valid responses.
About 98 percent of the respondents knew about the history of comfort women, while 64.9 percent knew that they were also called war-time military sex slaves, the survey showed.
On sources of their knowledge about comfort women, 71 percent of the respondents said that they knew about it through history textbooks, while 67 percent of those cited “television, news and online videos” as sources.
Sixty-five percent said that they learned about the subject online.
In a similar survey in 2022, the results showed that most learned about the subject through television and other media, followed by those who learned through watching documentaries and reading textbooks.
Meanwhile, 70 percent of the respondents said they remembered being taught about comfort women in school, while about 20 percent said they were not sure or did not remember if the subject was taught.
The previous survey showed that only 46.7 percent remembered learning about the history of comfort women.
Asked why Taiwanese women became sex slaves for the military during WWII, 94 percent said they were forced into sexual slavery, while 86 percent said they were deceived into the trade.
About 60 percent said they were drafted by the military and 27 percent said they volunteered to work as comfort women.
Aside from Taiwan, historical accounts exist for women from Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and other areas under Japanese occupation, including parts of Papua New Guinea.
Except comfort women in South Korea, who were given some compensation and official apologies by the Japanese government and private foundations, most survivors from other nations did not receive the same formal compensation.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS