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)