There has been much back-and-forth in Burnaby after a comfort women statue was proposed for Central Park, but one group wants to take the conversation in another direction.
Rather than focusing on whether or not the city should erect such a statue, the Asian Women Coalition Ending Prostitution is taking a look at the broader issue – how militarism and nationalism affect Asian women’s equality in Canada and elsewhere.
“It raises all these issues about what happens during war, what’s the impact on women, what’s the current situation now for women around the world in relation to military operations that are ongoing,” Suzanne Jay, a member of the coalition, told the NOW.
The group is holding a panel presentation on the topic this Thursday in Burnaby.
Speakers include coalition members Jaclyn Chang and Yoko Oikawa, as well as Charlene Sayo, a writer and blogger who has written about women’s rights issues in the Filipino community.
“We’re asking these women to present their perspective on the issues that are surrounding the comfort women statue,” Jay said. “We’re not asking anyone to take a position on the statue itself.”
“Comfort women” is a euphemism for women who worked in wartime brothels at Imperial Japanese army outposts during the 1930s and ‘40s. Many of the women were from Korea, which has led to decades of debate between Japan and Korea regarding whether or not the women were coerced and forced into being sex slaves for the Japanese military.
There is also debate about how many women were taken from Korea, China, Philippines and other countries where Japan had outposts; and what sort of apology and compensation is appropriate.
The coalition has held discussions about comfort women before, and members have participated in other forums in the Lower Mainland.
The presentation, A comfort women statue in Central Park?, takes place in multipurpose room 2 at Bonsor Community Centre, 6550 Bonsor Ave., on May 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
