Authors:
- Myriam Denov, School of Social Work, McGill University - Google Scholar, ORCID, Wikipedia

- Shu-Hua Kang, 會工作學系 (Department of Social Work), 國立臺北大學 (National Taipei University)- Google Scholar, ORCID, ResearchGate

Abstract: »“Comfort women” refers to the exploitation of women and girls by the system of sexual slavery of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. While societal prejudice hindered most survivors’ disclosures, little research addresses family perspectives. This study explores the views of family members of Taiwanese survivors involved in the redress movement regarding survivors’ sexual victimization and public disclosures. We conducted in-depth interviews with ten family members of four deceased survivors using thematic narrative analysis. Results indicate that families remained unaware of survivors’ histories until the redress movement in their older adulthood. Upon learning of survivors’ histories, most participants expressed sympathy and a nuanced understanding of the sources and impacts of survivors’ early trauma. While supportive, the second generation showed some ambivalence derived from long-term family histories linked to survivors’ traumas. Conversely, the third generation generally appreciated survivors’ multi-faceted identities, which they argued provided a richer portrait of their grandmothers beyond the domestic sphere. Critical contextual factors appeared to shape family perspectives, including participant-survivor relationships, local and global activism, and changing gendered norms. We suggest that interventions involving conflict-related sexual violence survivors’ families should occur at both micro and macro levels to adequately support survivors and their descendants.« (Source: Affilia)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 1)
	Introduction: The Importance of Exploring Family Perspectives on “Comfort Women” Survivors (p. 2)
	Literature Review (p. 3)
		CRSV and Its Consequences for Survivors and Their Families (p. 3)
		Ecological and Feminist Structural Perspectives on “Comfort Women” Survivors (p. 3)
		Taiwanese Comfort Women Survivors’ Secondary Victimization (p. 4)
		Resistance, Activism, and Sisterhood: Taiwanese Survivors’ Public Disclosures in the 1990s (p. 5)
	Methodology (p. 6)
		Participants (p. 6)
		Data Collection (p. 6)
		Data Analysis (p. 7)
	Results (p. 7)
	Survivors’ Stories (p. 7)
	Discovering Survivors’ Hidden Secrets (p. 8)
		Survivors’ Use of Silence and Disclosure (p. 8)
		Discovering Survivors’ Secrets Through Non-Direct Routes (p. 8)
	Intergenerational Responses and Perspectives (p. 9)
		Understanding Survivors’ Suffering (p. 10)
		Renewed Understanding of the Survivors (p. 11)
	Discussion (p. 13)
		Silence, Disclosure, and Family Responses Within the Ecological System (p. 13)
		Macrosystemic Contexts and Generational Differences (p. 14)
	Conclusion and Implications (p. 15)
	Acknowledgements (p. 16)
	Ethical Approval and Informed Consent Statements (p. 17)
	Funding (p. 17)
	Declaration of Conflicting Interests (p. 17)
	Data Availability Statement (p. 17)
	Any Other Identifying Information Related to the Authors and/or Their Institutions, Funders, Approval Committees, etc, That Might Compromise Anonymity (p. 17)
	Notes (p. 17)
	References (p. 18)
	Author Biographies (p. 20)

Wikipedia: History of Asia: History of China / Taiwan under Japanese rule | History of Asia: History of Japan / Shōwa era | Prostitution: Forced prostitution / Comfort women | Sex and the law: Wartime sexual violence / Sexual violence in World War II | War: Pacific War / Japanese war crimes