Taiwan’s ‘comfort woman’ campaigner dies before apology
Summary from Taipei Times, September 6, 2011
A Taiwanese woman who campaigned for a public apology from Japan after being used as a sex slave during the second world war has died at the age of 90.
Although Liu Huang A-tao who became known as Grandma A-tao lived until she was 90, she never received any acknowledgement from the Japanese government.
She was the first woman to accuse Japan of driving thousands of women into sex slavery during World War II. They were known as “comfort” women and along with eight others Liu Huang filed a lawsuit in 1999 demanding an apology and compensation.
Liu Huang was duped into service in South East Asia being told that she would work as a nurse but was forced into providing sex services for Japanese soldiers.
After she was injured in a battle, she had to have her womb removed. She later married a retired soldier and adopted a daughter. She died of natural causes last Thursday.
The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation is continuing to press for an apology and says there are just ten Taiwanese comfort women still living.
The Foundation’s chief executive Kang Shu-hua said most comfort women had taken their stories to their graves, and continuing to fight for justice was a way of honouring their memory and Liu Huang’s.
