[New York, November 10. Image via Getty]

An exhibit inside the art installation 'Journey' which depicts the world of human trafficking November 10, 2009 near Washington Square Park in New York. The installation shows seven stages of a woman who was trafficked into sexual slavery through exhibits created inside seven shipping containers. A mirror in this photograph would reflect the viewers face as they look through the oval hole. AFP PHOTO/Stan Honda (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Although in the past twenty years the world has become increasingly aware of the many Korean women - between 150,000 and 200,000 - forced into slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II, their fight for acknowledgment - let alone reparation - is far from over. As an L.A. Times piece makes clear, It's a complex issue, because for decades many of the women, who were generally abducted or tricked into prostitution, regarded their enslavement as such a shame that they never spoke of it and, in some cases, took it to their graves. As a result, it's hard to know exactly how many were subjected to such treatment, or how many survive; an attempt to locate survivors in the 1990s found only 234, of whom 93 are still living.

Now in their eighties and nineties, eight of these "comfort women" live together in an idiosyncratic retirement community on the outskirts of Seoul, established as non-profit about fifteen years ago. Funded by philanthropists and Buddhist organizations, the House of Sharing, in addition to a museum of "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery," features "a full-time chef and nurse and volunteer caregivers. There are regular art classes, exercise sessions and trips to the doctor." This is a heartening nod to the respect accorded older generations; it's hard, although nice, to imagine a comparable facility here. House of Sharing also a lot of activism, since the residents, whatever their differences, are joined in a need for closure. The women and their sympathizers picket the Japanese Embassy weekly, seeking both reparations and a formal apology from the Japanese government - who, in 1993, acknowledged but did not answer for the Imperial army's practice - and pushing for more support from South Korea. Some have traveled as far as Washington to testify before congress, which has called for Japan to apologize (complex given the U.S.'s own history of sexual exploitation in Korea - albeit not one involving official recognition or forced recruitment.)

Time, as both activists and the victims themselves are aware, is running out. Ideally, reparation can be made while a maximum number of these women are still alive, and, almost as important, enough awareness can be brought to the issue in Korea that the history is destigmatized and more feel emboldened to come forward. Like any issue of sexual assault, it's a deeply complex one, and the desire to respect privacy and individual comfort wars with a very real need to see justice done. Because there are still conservative factions in Japan who deny evidence of these war crimes, it's more crucial than usual that victims come forward - and do so before it's too late, and there really is no living evidence of the kind of crime that's all too often forgotten.

.South Korea's Wartime Sex Slaves: Hoping For Closure At The End Of Their Lives [LA Times]

Earlier: South Korea, U.S. Military Accused Of Encouraging Prostitution

First, though, a little background on precedent. In most places, a person can still be brought up on statutory rape charges even if they don't know that their partner is under 18 and might not have had sex with them if they knew. So while I assume that the sort of men who get off on having sex with prostitutes that might have been forced into sex work will whine and complain that they didn't know, it should not be required that the person coerced into having sex with men for money tell those men that she's a sex slave for them to be held liable.

The problem with a lot of prostitution law — as the prostitute that allegedly had sex with Senator Debbie Stabenow's husband, Thomas Athans, found out — is that most resources go into prosecuting women instead of men. If Athans hadn't been relatively well-known in his own right, let alone if his wife hadn't been a Senator, he would have likely faced few consequences for his side-activities. With men willing to use the services of prostitutes and little to fear in terms of prosecution, there will continue to be a market for prostitution. And with the burden of law enforcement weighing down on the prostitutes themselves, there will remain financial incentives for other people to fill market demand for sexual services by trafficking in women. If you can begin to eliminate demand then can you start those who are disadvantaged and seeking to get out. Making them the enemy of the state doesn't help almost anyone.

That's why this law is an interesting reversal of the average way that law enforcement attempts to enforce prostitution laws. It highlights for potential clients the risk that they might be engaging in a sex act that is neither voluntary nor compensated and that, regardless of what the woman says under duress, they can be prosecuted for aiding in her slavery and her rape. Maybe if we keep calling sexual slavery by its name — rape — and the men who provide the market for it by their name — rapists — then we can force the men who patronize these women to think about what they're doing when they're purchasing sex. That, at least, might help all the sex workers in the system, whether they are trafficked or not.

Sex With Trafficked Women To Be Criminalized [The Independent]
Senator Debbie Stabenow's Husband Admits To Sex With Alleged Prostitute Alycia Martin [Huffington Post]