World peace starts with ourselves | Mari Arimitsu | TEDxOhyunHighSchool

"We can make our world a better place by questioning on essential issues." says Mari Arimitsu, a graduate of UN University of Peace and an active Japanese Language Coordinator for the TED Translators project. Mari explores the issue of "comfort women," one of the hardest, remaining international relations issues between Japan and South Korea.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

In the last course of my graduate program

we created an online campaign video
on human trafficking.

My professor at the time said,

"You're not going to change
the world through this project,

but you're going to add a spoon of sugar
into the salty ocean to sweeten it up."

You may think making peace starts
with presidents, prime ministers,

leaders of some countries
shaking hands together,

or the United Nations,
NGO workers tirelessly working

in the less developed field
for the poorest of the poor.

I was thinking the same
before I started my graduate program.

But today you will learn
that peace actually starts with you.

I came to South Korea in order
to conduct my field research

on the issue of "comfort women."

"Comfort women" is a euphemism
coined by the Japanese Imperial Army

before and during World War II.

There are women who were forced
into sexual slavery by the army

and a majority of them
are from here, South Korea.

But there are also survivors from China,
Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

When I told my friends and family in Japan

that I would research
the issue of comfort women,

they usually say, "You're going to deal
with such a difficult issue."

I asked my mother why and she answered,

"I understand that the Japanese Army
did something terrible in the past,

but that's an embarrassing part
we all don't want to touch."

Many of you probably heard last year

that the government of Japan
and South Korea reached an agreement

on the issue of comfort women.

Under the agreement,
the government of Japan

will pay one billion yen to a foundation
that the South Korean government

will establish to offer
health and other services

to the elderly former comfort women.

In addition, the government of Japan
asked for removal of the statue

in front of the Japanese Embassy,
which pays tribute to the comfort women,

saying that the agreement was made
to stop future generations

from having to keep apologizing.

On the contrary, I believe
that the statue should not be removed

and the issue of comfort women
should continue to be discussed

and passed on to the future generations
in order to not repeat the history.

Sexual and gender-based violence
is not something that happened in the past

but it also proliferates
in modern everyday life.

Women are disproportionately suffering

because violence is often gendered

in attacks such as rape
and domestic violence.

According to
the World Health Organization,

one in three women worldwide

suffer from physical
or sexual abuse in their lifetime.

Here in South Korea, the number
of sexual assaults is increasing.

However, an expert says that the number
is just the tip of the iceberg,

as many women do not come forward

because they are afraid that they
are going to be insulted once again.

The situation is very similar in Japan.

Many assault survivors
do not want to come forward

because they feel ashamed or insulted.

Male-centered patriarchal societies
makes it difficult to talk

about the experience of sexual assaults.

Because being sexually assaulted also
enforces a form of stigma in our society.

I truly admire all the Korean women
who have come forward

and started to talk about
their painful experiences

as comfort women.

We can only imagine how hard it is

but then to talk
about experiences in public,

being raped over and over
by Japanese soldiers

and never being taken care of
even when they became sick.

There are also many women
who are abandoned and murdered

at the end of the war.

The surviving comfort women

are still fighting for their rights
and restoration of their dignity.

And a few survivors are participating

in the weekly demonstration
in front of the Japanese Embassy

calling for the Japanese government

to take legal responsibility
for its cause.

As a final assignment of my course

we wanted to create
an online campaign video

to make a powerful impact on the viewers.

Together with my colleagues,
Arunima, Caroline, and Rebekka,

we wanted to raise
awareness of child trafficking.

This was our effort to sweeten
the ocean just a little bit.

[Video]

(Beeping)

(Sizzling)

(Scraping)

[According to the International
Labor Organization

an estimated 17.2 million children

are in forced domestic
servitude worldwide.]

[These children are as young as five.]

[It happens all over the world.]

[You can be part of the solution!]

The child domestic servitude

is a form of modern day slavery.

Millions of children, all over the world,
are being trafficked into servitude

with a false promise
of education and a better life.

Many of these children
work up to 18 hours a day.

Often, they are not paid.

The world will likely turn its back
on those exploited children

unless someone has the courage

to question the practice
and its morality.

Even then, changes in cultures and laws
sufficient to stop child trafficking

will likely come slowly.

Take the issue
of comfort women, for example,

many of them were as young as 12

when they were forced
into sexual slavery.

They were not able to speak
about their experiences

under the strong patriarchal society.

But with democratization
of South Korea and the feminist movement

they started to speak in public
for the first time in the 1990s.

That is when they opened the door to allow
the taboo issue of comfort women

to become an issue discussed
in South Korea, Japan,

and the rest of the world.

My work started from curiosity.

I had several questions:

Why are elderly women still fighting

for their rights and restoration
of their dignity?

How and why did the United States
play a part in reaching this agreement?

Who truly has power in this world?

My hope is also to add a spoon
of sugar in this salty ocean.

I would like to seek an appropriate way
of honoring the lives of women

not only the surviving elders
but also the many young women

who were abandoned and murdered

in the battle field outside
of their own country.

By doing so, I believe
we can have a better conversation

towards sexual and gender-based violence
prevailing in our countries.

So, let us become curious
about exploitation in today's world.

Let us question why the world
is the way it is right now.

Why are some countries rich and powerful
while others are not?

Why are certain populations
being discriminated against?

Why are certain people
doing certain jobs in your community?

Why are there no women in boardrooms?

Why is your friend
being bullied in your classroom?

Then reach out your hand
to people who need your help.

Your help might be as tiny
as a spoon of sugar.

But if many of us do it together,
I think we can change the world.

Then you'll see that peace
actually starts with you.

Thank you so much.

(Applause)