“Wow, That's Our Grandma!”: The Responses and Perspectives of Family Members of Taiwanese “Comfort Women” Survivors Regarding Their Public Disclosures

“Comfort women” refers to the exploitation of women and girls by the system of sexual slavery of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. While societal prejudice hindered most survivors’ disclosures, little research addresses family perspectives. This study explores the views of family members of Taiwanese survivors involved in the redress movement regarding survivors’ sexual victimization and public disclosures. We conducted in-depth interviews with ten family members of four deceased survivors using thematic narrative analysis. Results indicate that families remained unaware of survivors’ histories until the redress movement in their older adulthood. Upon learning of survivors’ histories, most participants expressed sympathy and a nuanced understanding of the sources and impacts of survivors’ early trauma. While supportive, the second generation showed some ambivalence derived from long-term family histories linked to survivors’ traumas. Conversely, the third generation generally appreciated survivors’ multi-faceted identities, which they argued provided a richer portrait of their grandmothers beyond the domestic sphere. Critical contextual factors appeared to shape family perspectives, including participant-survivor relationships, local and global activism, and changing gendered norms. We suggest that interventions involving conflict-related sexual violence survivors’ families should occur at both micro and macro levels to adequately support survivors and their descendants.