Systemic Silencing

Activism, Memory, and Sexual Violence in Indonesia

Katharine E. McGregor

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780299344245, 9780299344207
• eBook ISBN: 9780299344238
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The system of prostitution imposed and enforced by the Japanese military during its wartime occupation of several countries in East and Southeast Asia is today well-known and uniformly condemned. For decades, transnational activist movements have sought to recognize and redress survivors of this World War II–era system, euphemistically known as "comfort women," with major movements in South Korea, the Philippines, Japan, and elsewhere. However, Indonesian survivors, and even the system's history in Indonesia to begin with, have largely been sidelined, even within the country itself. Katharine E. McGregor untangles the history of the system during the war and unpacks the context surrounding the slow and faltering efforts to address it. With careful attention to the historical, social, and political conditions surrounding sexual violence in Indonesia, supported by exhaustive research and archival diligence, she uncovers a crucial piece of Indonesian history and the ongoing efforts to bring it to the public eye. Critically, she establishes that the transnational part of activism surrounding victims of the system is both necessary and fraught, a complexity of geopolitics and international relationships on one hand and a question of personal networks, linguistic differences, and cultural challenges on the other.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Notes on Name Order, Spelling, and Translations
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: Activism by and on Behalf of Indonesian Women
• 1. Women, Sexual Exploitation, and Prostitution in the Netherlands East Indies
• 2. The Japanese Occupation: Indonesians as Resources for War
• 3. Patterns across the “Comfort Women” System in the Netherlands East Indies
• 4. Life after the War, Treaties, and the Occupation in Indonesian and Dutch National Memory
• 5. Pathways to Activism in Japan and Korea, 1980s–1990s
• 6. The Early 1990s: Indonesian Media Reporting on Korean Activism and Indonesian Survivors
• 7. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and Escalating Indonesian Activism
• 8. The Asian Women’s Fund and Increasing International Outreach, 1995–1997
• 9. The End of Suharto: Sexual Violence under the Spotlight
• Conclusion: Lessons from Indonesian Activism
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index