WAR AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS MUSEUM IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
By Nina Anthonsen from the Feminist group Ottar, Norway
War & Women's Human Rights Museum in Seoul, South Korea opened in 2012 and is run as a voluntary, non-profit foundation to show the unknown history of the women who were kept as sex slaves by the Japanese military during World War II. The museum also aim to promote knowledge about human rights and solidarity, especially focusing on women and children as innocent victims of a variety of war-crimes, as it is more dangerous to be a woman and child in a war-torn area than a soldier.
During World War II women and children between the ages of 12 and 20 were kidnapped for sexual slavery and held in houses or camps throughout Asia. They were called "Comfort Women", but have also been named after the grandmothers (Halmoni).
The museum is an open space to remember these women, it is a three floor building with a different focus on this aspect on every floor. The museum shows the women's powerful stories of the victims sacrifices, sorrows and heroism, but also about transformation and how this suffering can be used to create strength and a better world. At the same time, the foundation reminds us that sexual slavery still exists today and that rape and sexual abuse are powerful weapons of war. The museum emphasizes that it is important to know what happened, to know the story, in order to prevent history being repeated. A further goal is to raise awareness of areas in the world where women are victims of rape and murder today, a painful fact we all must acknowledge and aim to abolish. The museum aims to provide information on women's situation in war-torn countries and remind us that we can all contribute to the work for a better world for women and children.
I visited the museum in December 2017 and was deeply touched by the stories of the women, by the organization and not least by the reminder of how important it is not to forget – whilst also looking to the future and working for the world to be a safer place for women and children.
I walked through the museum in the footsteps of the "Halmonies". The museum is designed so that you follow a path, with different areas displaying installations, pictures, stories and documents. The first room introduced the history of the museum and the history of the Halmonies. There is a picture here of butterflies flying through the wall, symbolizing violence, vulnerability and discrimination, but also transformation, beauty and hope.
The largest part was dedicated to the story of "Comfort Women's” lives during and after World War II. A part were dedicated to Korea's abuse of Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War and another part consists of "The Memorial Wall", a wall of images of many of the women who had been Japanese sex slaves alongside the date of their death. Next to it is an empty brick wall dedicated to all those nameless, faceless women who did not have a voice, or who did not dare to show their face even after their husbands’ died. Our imagination can fill this wall with our own images of girls and women exploited and abused in wars. This empty wall is also a symbol of hope that women in the future will dare to show their faces, a hope we must amplify by telling their story.
The last room is dedicated to the current situation and images of those who suffer today. This room is also used for seminars and lectures. A centre and home for the "Halmonies" called "Our Home" was later established. This is a place where survivors can participate in therapies, oriental medicine, music classes, art classes and human rights work. They also have a befriending service, a sponsorship system that tracks those who are alone. On March 8, 2012, Women's Day, two surviving women, Bok-Dong Kim and Won-Ok-Gil, announced that when they received compensation from the Japanese government, they would donate all the money to other victims of sexual abuse in war, and so the "Butterfly Fund" was established. This is a fund that is working to support women in war-torn countries with its focus on those sexually abused in Congo and Vietnam.
The route through the museum follows the "Gravel Road", where the sound of guns and gunfire can be heard in the room. A reminder of the violence that determined the life of these girls and women, and the difficult hardships on the road they were forced to walk. Here girls were painted as shadows on one side of the wall, and on the other side there were drawings that the women themselves had drawn. The idea is that we follow the women from being kidnapped, to life as sex slaves in the camps and their fight afterwards to be heard and their courage to tell their stories.
In Asian cultures there is no tradition of talking about sexual abuse. We know that social change often comes after a person finds the courage to stand up, when family or communities exclude these human beings because of disgrace and shame. Thus we understand that society has failed these women and their destiny in so many ways, first by failing to protect them from war crimes, secondly by not approving their existence or their destiny.
The Japanese government still denies that the events took place. They deny responsibility despite military documents, UN condemnation and survivors' reports. Since 1992, every Wednesday at 12 o'clock survivors and supporters demonstrate outside the Japanese embassy in South Korea to demand recognition and reparations from the Japanese state. Anyone can attend the Wednesday protest if they are in Seoul. The protesters have 7 demands for the Japanese government:
That Japan admits there was a sexual slavery system in the Japanese military and that it committed war crimes.
That Japan releases all documents that are secretly stamped [not sure of this… perhaps just secret documents]
That the government issues a public apology
That the Japanese state pays compensation to victims
That the guilty are punished
That sexual slavery as a system performed by the Japanese military during the Second World War is written into the history books.
That a memorandum is raised in honour of the victims and that a public archive is created.
After pressure Japan by Prime Minister Abe made public apologies and remorse in December 2015 to “all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women”.
I can only imagine the courage the women had to find to stand up and talk about their experiences. At this point I must mention the woman who started the foundation, Halmonia, her name was Kim HakSoon. Kim Hak-Soon was kidnapped as a 17-year-old and was brought to the Japanese army as a sex slave. She was the first woman to use her own name and go public with her own experiences as a "Comfort Woman". She broke the silence about the assaults committed by the Japanese military and confronted the Japanese government on August 14, 1991, thanks to her outspokenness we can acknowledge injustice against women and children in history.
I think it is important to be open about abuse particularly as sexual violence often leads the victim to feel blamed and ashamed and can easily lead victims to silence. It takes strength to stand up to injustice and abuse. These women have used their own experiences to fuel their desire to make the world a better place. It is also important not to rewrite the words by making them softer, less threatening, so reducing the pain of the victim’s experiences.
Personally, I found it powerful to see how victims became survivors. They gave the violence a face. It was also powerful to see how they managed to transform their suffering by using their experiences to fight for women's rights and to generate power and unity.
For those interested in further reading I recommend the book "Half The Sky" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn: According to Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn abuses and harassment occur more often in societies with war, where violence is normalized, and lawlessness prevails. It happens more frequently in societies where women are politically, socially and sexually oppressed. But it happens all over the world all the time. For many, being a woman means being physically and sexually vulnerable, safe only if men decide it, unsafe if they decide otherwise. Sexual violence involves both power and powerlessness.
We have a worldwide responsibility to enable human right to all people. Together we can activate power through economic and legal sanctions by strengthening our own position towards this issue. By enlightenment and education can and will we take part in the world and restore justice and dignity, so thank you for reading this text.
If you are in Seoul be sure to visit this museum to commemorate the heroines of this violent abuse and be touched by their stories, listen, be informed and work alongside the museum and centre to strengthen civil rights for women and all human beings.
For those who otherwise want to support the Butterfly Fund, please go to www.womenandwar.net.
