October 13-14, 2017 - RCKC Conference on "The Redress Movement for Victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery" at Queens College Rosenthal Library

On October 13-14, 2017, we held our 8th annual conference at the Queens College Rosenthal Library. This year's topic was "The Redress Movement for the Victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery: Looking Back on the 27-Year Movement."  Nearly 200 people attended the conference.

The forced mobilization of an estimated 80,000 to 200,000 Asian women to Japanese military brothels during the Asia-Pacific War (1932-1945) was a brutal war crime. These victims of military sexual slavery have been referred to as “comfort women,” a euphemism originally used by Japanese soldiers. Although it has been over 70 years since the Asia-Pacific War and World War II ended, the Japanese government has not yet made a sincere apology and compensation to the victims.

In 1990, a redress movement began in South Korea in an attempt to persuade the Japanese government to apologize for its past actions and to sufficiently compensate the surviving victims. This movement has received global support from South Korea, other Asian countries, the U.S., and many other Western countries.

Eighteen well-known “comfort women” scholars and redress movement leaders in Korea, Japan, and the United States participated in the conference and gave very informative, eye-opening, and, in some cases, very passionate presentations on the redress movement and the “comfort women” issue.

Other speakers at the conference included New York State Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, Queens College Provost Elizabeth Hendrey, Research Foundation for Korean Community President Jea-seung Ko, and Director of Queens College Minority Student Affairs Maureen Pierce-Anyan.

Click the links below for the full conference schedule and short participant bios:

Conference Schedule

Participant Bios