Ianfu: The Women the World Tried to Forget
Between 20,000 and 50,000 Indonesian women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII. Most were girls tricked by promises of "education." 80 years later, the "Double Silence" remains.
"I was still a child... if I didn't obey, I would die."
These are the words of Sri Sukanti, one of the thousands of Indonesian women forced into military sexual slavery (ianfu) during WWII.
For 80 years, these women have lived through a "Double Silence"—first as victims of war, then as victims of social stigma. They were told they were going to school; instead, they were stolen.
As the last witnesses of this dark era leave us, we refuse to let their stories fade. This isn't just history—it's a demand for recognition and justice.
For years, I’ve listened to the stories of the ianfu—women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese military. As a journalist, I’ve realized that the truth is often buried under layers of shame and state-sanctioned forgetting.
I traveled to Central Java to stand before "Gedung Papak." To a passerby, it’s a Dutch-era relic. To Sri Sukanti, who was taken at just nine years old, it was the place where her childhood ended.
Thousands of Indonesian women were tricked with promises of education, only to be locked behind the walls of ianjos. Today, with fewer than 50 known survivors remaining, we are in a race against time to record their names and their stories.
We cannot let their legacy be a footnote. It is time to break the "Double Silence."