STINTINO, Italy - In a significant development aimed at acknowledging and remembering historical injustices, a statue symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, often referred to as "comfort women," was unveiled for the first time in Italy. The local activist group, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery, announced on Sunday that the statue was introduced to the public at Stintino Beach on the island of Sardinia.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the unveiling event took place on Saturday (local time) and marks an important step in the global recognition of the atrocities faced by these women during World War II. The statue in Stintino is the second of its kind installed on public land in Europe, following the first erected in Berlin, Germany, in 2020. It also joins a series of similar memorials around the world, with the first overseas statue installed in Glendale, California, in 2013.
Positioned approximately 200 meters from the city hall of Stintino, the statue stands in a location frequented by many tourists, providing broad exposure to its message. The council highlighted that the proposal for erecting the statue was warmly received by the local authorities when presented in December of the previous year.
At the ceremony, Stintino Mayor Rita Vallebella emphasized that the statue represents the universal human rights of women, reflecting on the suffering endured by an estimated 200,000 Asian women, predominantly Koreans, who were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops during the war. This historical issue continues to be a point of contention between Korea and Japan, dating back to the period of 1910-45 when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule.