Quelle: The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 19 | Issue 5 | Number 4 | Article ID 5545 | Mar 01, 2021
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis von Japan Focus


Transmitting Knowledge and Gaining Recognition:
Chinese “Comfort Women” Reparation Trials in the 1990s and 2000s

Xiaoyang Hao

Abstract:
In the wake of the explosion of the “comfort women” issue, with the help of lawyers and activists, Chinese comfort women instigated four class-action lawsuits against the Japanese government. However, how the lawyers represented the history of comfort women and what happened in the courtroom have remained obscure. Unlike the conventional verdict-centered approach to civilian trials involving comfort women, this research adopts a procedural approach by delving into the court transcripts, legal briefs, and other evidentiary materials tendered to the court. It argues that although the plaintiffs lost every case, through the court proceedings the victims and their lawyers managed to carve out an official space for knowledge transmission and recognition. These proceedings have the potential to serve as an exemplary model for future civil trials adjudicating injustices (historical or otherwise) involving sexual and gender-based violence.  ....

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