「女性・戦争・人権」学会
「女性・戦争・人権」学会について
こうした世界的な潮流の中で日本は戦後50年を折り返し、隠蔽され続けてきた日本の戦後史にようやくメスが入れられ、公教育の場でおそまきながら事実に基づいた歴史を語り継ごうとし始めた矢先、「正史の復権」を標榜する国家主義的な動きがあらわれました。私たちはそのような反動的な動きの背景にあるものを解明していく責任があると思います。そのための理論の形成と意見交換の場として あたらしく「戦争」「女性」「人権」を論じる学会設立を呼びかけました。幸いにして、国内外から多数の賛同をえることができました。
私たちは学会設立の目的として、これまでの男性中心の歴史が封じ込めてきた「女性に対する暴力」の究明を通して、支配・従属の権力構造を明らかにしていきたいと思います。身近な問題から地球規模の問題まで、個々に問題を提議し合い、討論する場をめざしています。個々人が自由に、主体的に活動していくことを原則に、既成の学会にはない開かれた論争の場にしていきたいと考えます。
以上のような趣旨でもって「女性・戦争・人権」学会を発会します。
Association for Research on the Impacts of War and Military Bases on Women’s Human Rights
With only three years left till the turn of the century, we are acutely reminded that these one hundred years have been characterized by warfare and violence. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the great majority of victims have been people not directly involved in fighting the wars, such as women, children, and the elderly. This crucial fact has been largely ignored in historical, philosophical and cultural studies dominated by the male point of view, which focuses on issues of politics and power.
In particular, the reality that women have continuously been victims of sexual assault has been concealed by the male attitude of tolerance toward sexual violence. This attitude perpetuates the false assumption that violence against women is a natural consequences of male-female relationships, and that the fault lies with the victim rather than violator. This belief, which serves the assaulting party well, has not only dominated the male perspective, but has also been internalized by women, resulting in a divisible situation whereby some suffer from violence while others take the side of the perpetrators.
The recent surfacing of these realities, which until now had gone unvoiced in this male-dominated society, can be attributed to the succession of shocking testimonies and indictments by women who suffered from acts of violence during wars. For examples, the testimonies of the so-called “comfort women”, victimized during the Sino-Japanese War and World War 2 by perhaps the greatest of the war crimes, sent a cold shiver around the world. This is because the governmentinstituted system of sexual slavery was a clear indication of how “history” had been concealing this most fundamental violence against women.
By illuminating the truth behind the sexual violence, we can come face to face with our true history, philosophy, and culture. It is essential to clarify the fact that far from stemming from natural male-female relationships, these acts of violence are the product of a power structure of dominance and submission, a structure that reveals its true colors all the more in extreme situations such as war. Only by acknowledging this will we be able to eradicate the violence that is the source of distrust and hatred, and embrace the vision of human rights, not as an abstract concept, but as a fundamental principle to be actualized in our lives.
To this end, we must thoroughly explore the realities of the past. It is necessary also to decode and criticize the intricate mechanisms which have functioned to legitimize these frightening realities. There is an acute demand for opportunities to discuss this problem from a multi-faceted perspective. Unfortunately, academic associations currently in existence are unable to sufficiently meet this demand, because they have been dominated by male members who don’t want to be engaged in the issues of sexual violence. This is why it is necessary to create a new association in which we can discuss issues of “war, women, and human rights”. We are endeavoring to create an association that will break through the professional-academic framework, and provide a forum where people who share similar concerns can exchange viewpoints freely.
Japan is presently seeing the emergence of a movement which goes against the world-wide trend toward uncovering the hidden truth behind the violence and national crimes. Claiming the authority of “history”, this movement contrives to justify the violators by concealing and distorting the truth, while also trying to silence the victims. It is our responsibility to elucidate, logically and practically, what is behind these violent statements which unscrupulously regenerate the evils of discrimination against women, racial discrimination, colonialism and cultural imperialism. The new association will endeavor to provide an effective forum for dealing with this task. Anyone who would like to participate is welcome.
1997.3.20
IGETA MIDORI, OGOSHI AIKO, SHIMIZU KIYOKO, SUZUKI YUKO, TSUNODO YUKIKO, NAKAHARA MICHIKO,
MINAMOTO JUNKO, MOCHIDA KIMIKO