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Summary

Kwon, Jung (2007). 'I Will Be Forgotten': Legal Redress for Koren Comfort Women In Max du Plessis and Stephen Pete, ed., Repairing the Past? International Perspectives on Reparations for Gross Human Rights Abuses. Oxford, UK: Intersentia. Pp. 413-436.

"In this chapter, I examine various attempts by former Korean comfort women to obtain compensation for and recognition of their ordeal, and evaluate the accomplishments and shortfalls of each of these attempts. I begin by discussing the challenges involved in the prosecution of sexual violence committed in wartime, illustrated by the case of comfort women. I examine litigation in Japan and the United States, followed by a discussion of the 2000 International Women's Tribunal. I then consider the need for legal redress in the case of comfort women, maintaining that despite its inadequacies, the courtroom is the most appropriate forum in which to address the women's demands. By understanding and appreciating the arduous legal battles that former comfort women have waged, we may acquire a greater insight into the issues involved in prosecuting crimes of sexual slavery that occur in the context of current armed conflicts." (abstract)

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