The integrity of uncomfortable truths

* Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of sexual harassment, violence, and misconduct.

IT TOOK years after the end of World War II for the stories of Filipino comfort women to surface.

Maria Rosa Luna-Henson was the first Filipino to come forward with her experience as a comfort woman. Her story only came out in 1992, nearly 50 years after the end of the war. Since then, countless others have followed LunaHenson’s footsteps and shared their accounts, bringing to light the torment that Japanese soldiers had physically and psychologically inflicted upon them. Despite such grave transgressions, Japan has willfully continued to disregard what their countrymen have done and has yet to make up for it.

When Japan started to seize control of the Philippines in World War II, they did more than just take advantage of the nation’s resources. The Japanese also exploited our