Trigger warning: Graphic descriptions in this column about sexual misconduct and assault may be triggering to survivors of sexual misconduct.

No comfort was brought to the more than 200,000 female victims of sex slavery in World War II, but, for Japanese soldiers, the women were how soldiers found their own disgusting pleasure.

During World War II, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino and Dutch women were kidnapped from their home countries and taken to camps in Japan. Labeled as “comfort women,” the teenage women were used for sex. Soldiers would wait in line as one after another would go into a room and rape the captured women.

Hilde Janssen, a Dutch journalist, had the chance to talk to some of the women victimized by these crimes, and she worked with Jan Banning, a photographer, on the project.

Like Niyem, a comfort women survivor, was 10 when she was taken to a military camp.

“Within two months, my body was completely destroyed. I was nothing but a toy. As a human being I meant nothing, that’s how it felt during the Japanese era,” said Niyem in an article for National Public Radio.

When Niyem escaped the camp and returned home, she did not tell anyone, not even her family, where she was and that she was raped. People caught on due to the fact she was gone for so long and started calling her a “Japanese hand-me-down.”

Lee Ok-Seon, another survivor, was 14 when she was kidnapped.

“Many girls committed suicide. They drowned or hung themselves,” said Ok-Seon in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

She was unable to bear her own children. She contracted syphilis, among other sexually transmitted diseases. In an effort to increase life expectancy, doctors removed her uterus.

The Huffington Post reported about Chang Jin-Lee, an artist who has created billboards, filmed videos and conducted interviews with comfort women. Her project is titled, “Comfort Women Wanted” and hopes to spread the word about the harms human trafficking. In her video, comfort women are shown sharing what they remember from World War II.

“Men inserted their penis into them, had sex quickly and that was all. Comfort women had to have sex with 50 to 100 soldiers a day,” said Yasuji Kaneko, a former Japanese soldier.

This kind of sorrowful event should not be forgotten, but the Japanese government is trying to act like it didn’t happen according to an article by Politico. Victims from different countries have filed lawsuits in the past and have been wanting an apology from the Japanese government, but none of that has been fulfilled.

Victims want the Japanese government to take responsibility for its soldiers actions. Since it was over 75 years ago that these tragic crimes happened, the government may think, “What’s the point?” The point is women like Niyem and Ok-Seon lost their childhoods. Some lost their right to bear children and almost died from STDs they contracted from being raped. Other women faced a worse fate — death.

This issue should not be brushed off. It may have been over 75 years ago, but human trafficking has continued to be a prominent issue in today’s society, and letting this go would set the precedent for the way we address human trafficking today.

There needs to be an end to this. The Japanese government could lead by example by apologizing for not addressing the fact that Japanese soldiers put teenage girls through horrific encounters with strange men and provide a monetary compensation for the victims.

After World War II ended, Ok-Seon slept in the streets and barely survived because she had no money. It is time they receive aid as an apology for struggling for decades after the war ended.

This August, the world celebrated the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. August 14 is the day of remembrance for comfort women. The survivors should be given comfort in the fact that they lived, but living through the hell of the aftermath of being a comfort woman is a fact they have to live with.