Carolyn Mazloomi, Stolen Comfort , 2015

2015

Medium

Cotton, India ink, textile paint, cotton thread, and cotton batt

Dimensions

154.9 × 185.4 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-498510

This quilt honors the Comfort Women of World War II. The comfort women, victims of the largest case of human trafficking in the 20th century, have been left out of textbooks. Young women from countries in Imperial Japanese custody were abducted, or in some cases, lured with promises of work in factories or restaurants; once recruited, the women were incarcerated in brothels known as comfort stations. During World War II, the Japanese established military brothels in countries they occupied. Women, many from occupied countries including Korea, China, and the Philippines, were forced to provide sexual services to personnel in the Japanese Imperial Army. Upwards of 300,000 women were forced into sexual slavery. The remaining living Comfort Women, mainly those from South Korea, have asked for an official apology from Japan -- one that acknowledges the military's role in the issue.