comfort woman
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈkʌmfərt ˈwʊmən/
- Offensive
:
mujer de confort
- Many survivors of the atrocities suffered as comfort women during World War II continue to seek justice.
- former comfort women
Examples
-
However, what is missing from the discussions between the Korean and Japanese governments about the reparations for "comfort women" is the subjectivity of the women as well as the healing of their pain and suffering.
Academic text (2004) -
Despite such protests and controversy, the funds for "comfort women" started in July 1995.
Academic text (2004) -
"Comfort women" were forcibly drafted into sexual service for Japanese troops during World War II.
Academic text (2003) -
An additional factor that has recently been highly publicized is the Japanese government's involvement in the conscription of Korean "comfort women."
Academic text (2003) -
But until Japan demonstrates genuine sorrow for having killed millions of people in the war, until it compensates the aging "comfort women" and other victims, it will never recover its national self-confidence or gain acceptance by China and Korea as a trustworthy neighbor.
Academic text (1998) -
The plight of comfort women remains a significant issue in discussions about wartime sexual violence.
-
In historical accounts, comfort women were often taken against their will and forced to serve the occupying soldiers.
Synonyms
A woman forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers during World War II
Surface Forms
Morphology
comfort + woman
The literal meanings of 'comfort' (to soothe or ease) and 'woman' (an adult female) would lead a learner to expect a woman who comforts or is comforted, not someone subjected to sexual slavery. 'Comfort woman' is a historical euphemism referring specifically to women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military in WWII, a culturally and historically specific meaning that cannot be derived from the constituents, so it is opaque to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Comfort woman comes from a polite use of comfort that the Japanese military used in World War II to hide the true role of these women. They were sent to 'comfort stations' where many were 'forced into sexual slavery', so today the phrase refers to those women and their suffering.