May 23, 2013

The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on May 21 urged the Japanese government to properly address “comfort women” issues.

In its published document, the U.N. Committee expresses concern about “the lasting negative effects of the exploitation to which ‘comfort women’ were subjected on their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and their entitlement to reparation”, and recommends that “the state party take all necessary measures to address the lasting effects”.

The committee also demands that the Japanese government “educate the public on the exploitation of ‘comfort women’ so as to prevent hate speech and other manifestations that stigmatize them”.

Amnesty International Japan has published a statement against Osaka City Mayor Hashimoto Toru’s remarks that the “comfort women” system was “necessary”, saying that his remarks must be condemned “in the strongest possible terms”.

The statement criticized Hashimoto’s remarks as publicly affirming and condoning the former Japanese Army’s organizational sexual violence as well as expressing severe discrimination against women by recognizing them as necessary sex tools for the military.