A visit to the House of Sharing was one of the most memorable things I did during my time in Korea. The House of Sharing is the present day home of some of the comfort women who went through immense suffrage during the Japanese colonial period, as sexual slaves for many for the Japanese. The premises also hosts a museum showcasing the abuse that these women have gone through, in hopes that the public can be made aware and more educated on the topic.
I won’t get into too many details here, but the women who live at the House of Sharing range in age between mid-70s and early 90s and are often out casted by the Korean society, even though what happened to them is through no fault of their own. Many of them were taken when they were in their early teens, meaning that they stopped receiving education from a very young age. Because of this, many of them were unable to contribute to society after the war and had no choice but to become prostitutes or take on any job they could just to ensure their own survivor.
When we arrived at the house, I was surprised to find that it looked very similar to a bungalow residence back home.
We visited the museum first, which had an extensive collection detailing the events and places that comfort women from all over Asia suffered through.
The map below shows the locations of the Japanese Military comfort Stations, otherwise known as rape centres. The red circles indicate that the area was confirmed by official documents. The blue triangles show the areas confirmed by the comfort women. The purple squares are the areas confirmed by military records.
Also on display were the names and faces of some of the brave comfort women.
During the tour that I took, one of the older grandmas was actually at the house and came out to meet our group. She was gracious enough to sit there and take any questions any of us had for her.
During the tour that I took, one of the older grandmas was actually at the house and came out to meet our group. She was gracious enough to sit there and take any questions any of us had for her.
The House of Sharing
Address: #65 Wongdang-ri, Twoichon-myon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Tel: +82-(0)31-768-0064
0 comments on “The House of Sharing” Add yours →