Touching portraits of former 'comfort women'

A look at some of the last, nearly forgotten victims of World War II

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A former comfort woman
Zhang Xiantu rests on a traditional brick bed in her house in Xiyan Town, Shanxi Province, China. Zhang was 16 years old, and recently married, when Japanese soldiers broke into her home and seized her. She couldn't run away because he
(Image credit: July 18, 2015)

A former fortress, now abandoned, where Japanese soldiers kept women they abducted, in Xipan village, Shanxi Province.
(Image credit: July 18, 2015)

Ren Lane at her house in Gucheng Town, Shanxi Province, China. According to her statement, Ren was abducted by Japanese soldiers when she was 15 years old.
(Image credit: July 17, 2015)

Hao Juxiang, 92, in her house in Gucheng Town, Shanxi Province, China, was either 15 or 16 years old when she was abducted.
(Image credit: July 16, 2015)

Hao Yuelian, in her home in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, was taken by Japanese soldiers when she was 17. Hao was never able to have children of her own, something her family blames on her treatment in the brothels, but later adopte
(Image credit: July 16, 2015)

Lee Oksun lives in a special shelter for former comfort women in Gwangju, South Korea. According to her testimony, Lee was 15 when she was taken from South Korea to an airfield in China, where she was habitually raped, and then moved t
(Image credit: July 24, 2015)

Kim Bokdong holds her painting, titled "The Day a 14-year-old Girl is Stolen Away," in her room in a shelter for former comfort women in Seoul, South Korea. According to her testimony, Kim was taken to multiple Japanese military brothe
(Image credit: July 23, 2015)

Gil Wonok sits in her room in a shelter for former comfort women in Seoul, South Korea. According to her testimony, Gil was taken to a military brothel in China in 1940, where she caught syphilis and developed tumors. A Japanese milita
(Image credit: July 23, 2015)

A memorial wall commemorating Korean comfort women at the War and Women's Human Rights Museum in Seoul, South Korea.
(Image credit: July 22, 2015)

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Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.