Buried in the mists of history : the comfort women of Singapore

Abstract

During World War II, innumerable women were subjected to sexual enslavement in comfort stations set up by the Japanese military across occupied territories, including Singapore. These “comfort women” were forcibly recruited to provide sexual comfort to Japan’s imperial forces, and were subjected to rape, torture, and physical abuse. Although most of the women are now dead, surviving victims are still suffering from the trauma inflicted more than seventy years ago. Over the decades, more stories from the former comfort women about their wartime servitude have surfaced, but none from the comfort women of Singapore. This thesis asks the question why have these women’s tragedies been silenced from Singapore history, when victims from so many other regions have been, and are currently, volubly advocated for by their countries? It points towards continuities in Singaporean patriarchy which still enable the silencing of these women’s suffering in the name of “chastity”.