The Japanese government has refused to provide official compensation for the women, claiming postwar treaties dealt with the issue and courts have rejected several lawsuits brought by the former sex slaves known as "comfort women."

Historians estimate 200,000 women, mostly from the Korean Peninsula and the Philippines but also from China, Indonesia and the Netherlands, were pressed into wartime prostitution for millions of Japanese soldiers stationed throughout Asia. Eve Ensler, whose charity V-Day has led several campaigns to end violence against women, said an apology by the Japanese government "would be a huge statement for the world."

The women "have such dignity and wisdom and their lives have been hell. They have not had justice," she said.

V-Day began in 1998 on Valentine's Day as a benefit performance of Ensler's play, "The Vagina Monologues," which is based on interviews with more than 200 women about their memories and experiences of sexuality.

By last year, V-Day had grown to 2,300 benefit shows in 76 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and North America. It has raised more than $26 million for shelters for battered women, rape hotlines, safe houses in Africa to protect women from genital mutilation and other causes.

The launch of V-Day's Spotlight Campaign on the comfort women issue at the U.N. Plaza Hotel is timed to coincide with a session Monday of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

The global campaign includes a petition seeking 1 million signatures to be presented to the United Nations, the construction of museums in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, demonstrations in the Netherlands, a street march in Taiwan, and photo exhibits and testimonial books in Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Benefit performances of "The Vagina Monologues" in July in Seoul and Tokyo will feature the stories of comfort women with a monologue written by Ensler.

The campaign will culminate with a day of demonstrations outside Japanese embassies around the world on Aug. 10.

"We are celebrating the fierce spirit and resistance of these women," Ensler said. "The comfort women are now speaking out. It is a celebration of them."

Ensler waives royalty fees for benefit shows of "The Vagina Monologues" as long as proceeds are donated to stopping violence against women and girls. "The Vagina Monologues" has been translated into 35 languages and performed by stars including Jane Fonda, Winona Ryder, Kylie Minogue, Susan Sarandon, Salma Hayek and Whoopi Goldberg.

The Japan Times: Feb. 28, 2005
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