The Psychological Effects of Sexual Maltreatment On Filipino Comfort Women

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Introduction

Any disparity in power makes physical and sexual maltreatment more probable. This is mainly true in the extensive prevalence of rape during the time of the Second World War.

Sexual maltreatment, in the form of rape, inflicted on the Filipino comfort women during the war are considered as an offense of crime against humanity. However, it remained unreported and unrecognized years after the war.

Rape is identified as criminal sexual intercourse without the consent of the victim. Even so, given all the consequences of rape for victims, this definition is rather limited . Investigations into psychological consequences of rape in the Filipino comfort women were found that it produced psychological difficulties, such as depression, social phobia, sexual dysfunctions, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The impact of rape has gone far beyond the immediate effects of the physical attack and has long-lasting consequences.

Demographic Characteristics

Some of the women were as young as ten years of age. These women were often either tricked by offers of legitimate employment or abducted from their homes or streets by Japanese soldiers and forced into so-called comfort houses.

The names and towns differed among tales, but the accounts of perversion and torture remained chillingly consistent.

Rape characteristics

Many of the women were taken forcibly by Japanese soldiers while in their home. A few were taken while they were at home while a few were either working; or running an errand for their parents. Many of them were still single but there were other married women. A woman from Bicol was asleep when the Japanese came to their village and rounded up all men and young women and were taken in the elementary sch...

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