Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/author/rochelle-g-saidel/)
Rochelle G. Saidel is founder and executive director of Remember the Women Institute and was named a Women's eNews 21Leaders for the 21st Century in 2015.
Organized by the Women Wage Peace movement, the cross-sectional group has been holding a vigil outside the prime minister’s residence since last week, part of its 50-day fast to mark the anniversary of last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
Other victims from Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and East Timor were also forced into sexual slavery. Sometimes women were required to provide sexual service, which could be defined as rape, for up to 50 soldiers per day.
Germaine Tillion and Geneviève de Gaulle, political prisoners in Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp, have received the posthumous honor. In April, the English premiere of Tillion’s play will be staged at the University of Southern Maine.
Japanese officials are trying to remove a small monument to Korean “comfort women” in New Jersey. Rochelle Saidel says these and other women violated by war are still being denied official recognition.
The founder of Remember the Women Institute finds the president’s remarks significant given the context. That’s because the sexual violence that occurred during the Holocaust is still not widely recognized.