The Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) joins women and peoples around the world in a global day of action to remember the victims and survivors of war and in demanding justice for “comfort women”. The Japanese Imperial Army’s “comfort women” system remains one of the clearest examples of state-sanctioned military sexual slavery. Yet even more than 80 years after the end of World War II, survivors in the Philippines and across Asia continue to await genuine justice, including an official apology, reparations, and recognition of their history.
CWR condemns Japan’s continuing historical revisionism and its growing remilitarization, including its expanding military cooperation with the Philippines through the Philippine-Japanese Reciprocal Access Agreement. The strengthening of military alliances and foreign military access must not come at the expense of women’s rights, community safety, and national sovereignty.
Militarization does not bring genuine security for women and communities. Instead, it deepens violence, displacement, and insecurity. The legacy of military sexual violence in the Philippines stretches from the abuses committed by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, to the documented history of violence surrounding US military bases, and to present-day reports of cases of displacement, harassment, exploitation, and sexual violence in militarized communities. Across these periods, women have borne a disproportionate share of the social and economic costs of militarization.
The Philippine government’s continued increase in military spending, alongside agreements and financing arrangements that expand the presence and access of foreign militaries, raises serious concerns about the safety and welfare of Filipino women and their communities. Militarization diverts public resources away from essential social services while creating environments where women and other vulnerable sectors may face heightened risks of abuse and exploitation.
Last year, the United States government approved a $2.5 billion Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grant package for the Philippines covering fiscal years 2026 to 2030, amounting to roughly $500 million annually. At the same time, the Marcos Jr. administration is alloting ₱452.4 billion for military spending in 2027, a 6.8% increase from the previous year’s military budget. CWR calls into question how these massive allocations for military expansion will further affect communities already facing poverty, displacement, and insecurity, and warns that increased militarization can further expose women to harassment, trafficking, sexual violence, and other forms of abuse.
The commemoration of the victims and survivors of World War II must not be reduced to remembering the past while ignoring the conditions that continue to enable military violence against women today. The experiences of “comfort women” survivors remind us that women’s bodies have repeatedly been treated as instruments of war and militarization.
CWR calls for an end to militarization, imperialist wars, and all forms of military sexual violence. We demand justice for the comfort women and accountability from states responsible for wartime and military sexual violence, including meaningful reparations, official recognition, and guarantees that such abuses will not be repeated.
We reject the use of women’s bodies and communities as collateral in military alliances and war economies. Public funds must serve the people, not the expansion of military power and foreign military interests. Genuine peace requires social justice, women’s rights, accountability, and respect for national sovereignty, not ever-increasing military budgets and foreign military presence. #
