Citation

Park JH, Lee KK, Hand MD, Anderson KA, Schleitwiler TE. J. Gerontol. Soc. Work 2016; 59(4): 332-348.

Affiliation

MSW Program, School of Social Work , University of Montana , Jeannette Rankin Hall 014, Missoula , MT , 59812.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/01634372.2016.1204642

PMID

27352019

Abstract

Prior to and during World War II, thousands of girls and young women were abducted from Korea and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese government. Termed "comfort women", these girls and young women suffered extreme sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and trauma. Research on this group is not well-developed and we know little of impact of this early life trauma on the lives of these women who are now in later life. Using snowball sampling, 16 older adult survivors of the "comfort women" system participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted to gain an understanding of the trauma that these women suffered and how it impacted their lives.

RESULTS revealed the depths of the abuse these women suffered, including repeated rapes, physical beatings, humiliation, forced surgery and sterilization, and social exclusion. These early traumatic experiences appeared to reverberate throughout their lives in their family relations, their inability to marry and to conceive children, and their emotional and physical well-being throughout the life course and into later life. The experiences of these survivors illustrate the lasting impact of early-life trauma and can guide interventions with current survivors of sexual abuse or trafficking.

Language: en