Primary Legal Reports and UN Documents
Dolgopol, Ustinia and Snehal Paranjape. Comfort Women: An Unfinished Ordeal. Report of a Mission. Geneva, Switzerland: International Commission of Jurists, 1994.
Summary: This definitive 1993 report from the International Commission of Jurists was among the first to classify the "comfort women" system as sexual slavery rather than forced prostitution. By demonstrating that these actions violated customary international law regarding slavery even by 1930s standards, the text was instrumental in shifting the global debate from a moral argument to a legal one, laying the direct groundwork for the 1998 McDougall Report to the UN. Available here.
Institute of International Legal Studies. International Symposium on Filipino Comfort Women: Papers and Proceedings. Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Law Center, 1994.
Summary: This volume collects the legal papers and proceedings from a pivotal symposium hosted by the University of the Philippines Law Center. Published during the early years of the redress movement (shortly after the first Filipino survivor, Maria Rosa Henson, broke her silence), the text documents the initial efforts to articulate the "comfort women" issue within the Philippine legal framework. It serves as a primary source for understanding how Southeast Asian jurists and scholars first approached the questions of state responsibility and international law regarding wartime sexual slavery.
Nihon Bengoshi Rengokai (Japan Federation of Bar Associations). Recommendation on the Issue of "Comfort Women." Supplementary Explanation of the Recommendation on the Issue of "Comfort Women." Tokyo: Japan Federation of Bar Associations, 1995.
Summary: In this significant legal opinion, Japan’s largest and most prestigious bar association (the JFBA) formally broke with the Japanese government’s position regarding the "comfort women." While the state argued that the 1965 treaties had settled all claims, the JFBA argued that the state retained a legal and moral responsibility to provide individual compensation and an official apology to the victims. The recommendation urged the Diet (parliament) to pass special legislation to resolve the issue, rather than relying on private "charity" measures like the Asian Women's Fund. It stands as a primary source documenting internal Japanese legal dissent against the government's refusal to accept official liability.
Coomaraswamy, Radhika. Report on the mission to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Japan on the issue of military sexual slavery in wartime. E/CN.4/1996/53/Add.1. Geneva: United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 1996.
Summary: This is the first report submitted by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women regarding the "comfort women" issue. Based on a fact-finding mission to the Koreas and Japan, Coomaraswamy formally rejected the euphemism "comfort women" in favor of the legal definition "military sexual slavery." The report concludes that the Japanese government violated international treaties regarding slavery and crimes against humanity. It issued six specific recommendations to the Japanese government, including acknowledging legal responsibility, creating a compensation committee, and punishing perpetrators—recommendations which laid the foundation for subsequent UN actions. Available here.
McDougall, Gay J. Systematic Rape, Sexual Slavery and Slavery-like Practices during Armed Conflict: Final Report submitted by Ms. Gay J. McDougall, Special Rapporteur. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/13. Geneva: United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 1998.
Summary: Submitted to the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, this landmark report established the definitive international legal framework for prosecuting wartime sexual violence. While the main body addresses global conflict, the report is most famous for its detailed Appendix, which specifically analyzes the legal liability of the Japanese government for the "comfort women" stations. McDougall concludes that the system constituted "sexual slavery" and a "crime against humanity." Crucially, the report argues that the Japanese government remains legally responsible for providing individual reparations and that the statute of limitations does not apply to these crimes, effectively rebutting Japan’s argument that post-war treaties had settled the issue. Available here.
Nihon Bengoshi Rengokai (Japan Federation of Bar Associations). Recent Development of JFBA's Activities on the Issue of "Comfort Women." Tokyo: Japan Federation of Bar Associations, 1998.
Summary: Published three years after their initial 1995 recommendation, this report documents the Japan Federation of Bar Associations' ongoing but frustrated efforts to compel the Japanese government to enact legislative redress. It details the specific lobbying activities undertaken by the JFBA, including their submissions to the United Nations and coordination with international human rights bodies. This document is particularly valuable for tracking the domestic legal impasse in Japan during the late 1990s, showing how the bar association attempted to maintain pressure on the Diet even as the government moved forward with the controversial (private) Asian Women's Fund instead of state reparations.
Sancho, Nelia. War Crimes on Asian Women: Military Sexual Slavery by Japan during World War II: The Case of the Filipino Comfort Women, Part II. Manila: Asian Women Human Rights Council, 1998.
Summary: Compiled by Nelia Sancho, a key leader in the Asian feminist movement, this volume documents the specific experiences of Filipino "comfort women" (often referred to as Lolas). Unlike the more bureaucratized "comfort station" system often described in Korea, this report highlights the distinct pattern of violence in the Philippines, which frequently involved direct abduction and garrison-based sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation. The text combines survivor testimonies with political analysis, framing the issue as an ongoing struggle for justice against both colonial history and patriarchal state structures that silenced these women for decades.
United States Congress. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment. 110th Cong., 1st sess., February 15, 2007.
Summary: This historic congressional hearing is widely credited with shifting US policy on the "comfort women" issue, directly paving the way for the passage of House Resolution 121 later that year. The hearing featured powerful firsthand testimony from three survivors: Lee Yong-soo (Korea), Kim Koon-ja (Korea), and Jan Ruff O'Herne (Netherlands). Their detailed accounts of abduction and sexual slavery dismantled revisionist arguments that the women were willing prostitutes. The record also includes the testimony of Congressman Mike Honda, who argued that the Japanese government's previous apologies were insufficient due to a lack of official cabinet approval and ongoing attempts to revise history textbooks. Available here.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea. Documents on the Victims of Sexual Slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army During the Second World War: United Nations Reports and Relevant Documents. Seoul: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2014.
Summary: Published by the South Korean government during a period of heightened diplomatic tension, this "white paper" compiles the major international legal documents that condemn the "comfort women" system. It functions as an official evidence book, aggregating the full texts of landmark UN reports (including Coomaraswamy and McDougall) alongside specific recommendations from the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). By consolidating these texts into a single volume, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed to demonstrate that the classification of the system as "sexual slavery" was not merely a Korean accusation, but a settled consensus within the international human rights community.