NEARLY 80 years after the serial abuse committed in the so-called Red House in Bulacan and on international women’s day, the Philippines was found to have violated the rights of comfort women, victims of sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during the second world war.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) issued its decision after examining a complaint filed by 24 Filipina nationals, members of the Malaya Lolas (“Free Grandmothers”), a non-profit organization established to provide support to sexual slavery survivors.
The UN CEDAW said the Philippines failed to provide for the reparation, social support, and recognition commensurate with the harm suffered by the women. The Committee also found that the country “waived its right to compensation by signing the Treaty of Peace with Japan.”
“This is a symbolic moment of victory for these victims who were previously silenced, ignored, written off and erased from history in the Philippines,” said Committee member Marion Bethel. “The Committee’s Views pave the way for restoring their dignity, integrity, reputation and honour.”
The Committee requested that the Philippines provide the victims full reparation, including material compensation, and an official apology for the continuing discrimination.
The UN said CEDAW observed that the Philippine Commission on Women has not addressed the institutionalized system of wartime sexual slavery, its consequences for victims and survivors or their protection needs.
However, Philippine war veterans, who were mostly men, were entitled to special and esteemed treatment from the government, such as educational benefits, health-care benefits, old age, disability and death pensions.
Given the extreme severity of gender-based violence suffered by the victims, and the continuing discrimination against them regarding restitution, compensation and rehabilitation, the Committee concluded that the Philippines had breached its obligations under the Convention.
In particular, the Committee found that the State party had failed to adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to prohibit all discrimination against women and protect women’s rights on an equal basis with men.
“This case demonstrates that minimizing or ignoring sexual violence against women and girls in war and conflict situations is, indeed, another egregious form of violation of women’s rights. We hope that the Committee’s Decision serves to restore human dignity for all of the victims, both deceased and living,” Bethel said.
On November 23, 1944, complainants of this case, Natalia Alonzo and 23 other victims, were forcibly taken to the Bahay na Pula (Red House), the Japanese headquarters in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.
They were detained in the Red House for one day to three weeks, where they were repeatedly subjected to rape, other forms of sexual violence, torture and inhumane detention conditions.
They have endured long-term physical, psychological, social and economic consequences, including physical injuries, post-traumatic stress, permanent damage to their reproductive capacity and harm to their social relationships in their community, marriage, and work.
They asserted that they had consistently raised their claims at the domestic level, requesting that the Government of the Philippines espouse their claims and their right to reparations against the Government of Japan.
Their repeated efforts, however, were dismissed by the authorities, with their last action turned down by the Supreme Court in 2014. The Philippine Government has always maintained that it is not in a position to claim compensation from Japan after ratifying the Treaty of Peace with Japan in 1956.
The victims then brought their case to the Committee in 2019, seeking to establish the responsibility of the State party to fulfil its commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in supporting the non-discrimination of women and girls on its territory.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez