[ti:US Professor Faces Criticism for ‘Comfort Women’ Claims] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]An American professor is facing criticism after suggesting [00:06.32]that Korean women kept as sex slaves in wartime Japan [00:13.04]willingly took part in sex work. [00:17.12]Harvard University professor J. Mark Ramseyer [00:22.60]made the claims in a recently published paper. [00:27.20]His arguments reject a wide body of research [00:31.92]finding that so-called "comfort women" in Japan [00:36.80]were forced to work as sex workers during World War II. [00:42.32]Historians say tens of thousands of women from around Asia [00:48.92]-- many of them Korean -- were sent to military brothels [00:54.12]to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during the war. [00:59.68]In the 1990s, women began speaking publicly [01:04.76]about how they had been taken to "comfort stations" [01:09.08]and forced to provide sexual services. [01:13.96]They have shared their experiences of rape and abuse. [01:19.48]Ramseyer, however, argues that the women willingly [01:24.72]entered into contracts as sex workers. [01:30.08]His paper has intensified a political dispute [01:34.44]between Japan and South Korea. [01:38.92]South Korean leaders have long urged Japan [01:43.20]to offer apologies and damages to the victims of sex slavery. [01:50.00]Both North and South Korea have spoken out against Ramseyer's paper. [01:57.92]Hundreds of scholars have signed letters condemning the paper, [02:03.04]which was published online in December. [02:07.92]The paper was supposed to appear in the March issue [02:12.20]of the International Review of Law and Economics. [02:16.48]But the publication suspended the issue [02:20.52]and released an "expression of concern," [02:24.48]saying the piece is under investigation. [02:29.36]Ramseyer is a professor of Japanese legal studies [02:33.84]at Harvard Law School. [02:36.64]He did not provide comments to Associated Press reporters. [02:43.00]Historians have raised major concerns about Ramseyer's research. [02:49.32]Scholars at Harvard and other universities [02:53.32]have examined his sources and say there is no historical evidence [02:59.36]of the sex worker contracts he describes. [03:03.76]Harvard historians Andrew Gordon and Carter Eckert [03:09.08]have called for the article to be withdrawn. [03:13.52]"We do not see how Ramseyer can make credible claims ... [03:18.16]about contracts he has not read," the two said in a statement. [03:24.08]Alexis Dudden is a historian of modern Japan and Korea [03:30.08]at the University of Connecticut. [03:33.04]She said the article ignores many years of research. [03:39.64]Although some have pointed to freedom of scholarship [03:44.16]to defend Ramseyer, Dudden argued that the article [03:48.88]"does not meet the requirements of academic integrity." [03:54.16]She added: "It's very clear from his writing and his sources [03:59.52]that he has never seen a contract." [04:02.76]More than 1,000 economists have signed a letter condemning the paper. [04:09.88]The letter said the article misuses economic theory [04:14.92]"as a cover to legitimize horrific atrocities." [04:21.08]A separate group of historians on Japan issued a 30-page paper [04:27.36]calling for the article to be withdrawn. [04:31.32]At Harvard, hundreds of students signed a letter [04:35.52]demanding that Ramseyer apologize and calling on the university [04:41.56]to answer the accusations against him. [04:45.24]A United Nations report from 1996 [04:49.76]found that comfort women serving as sex slaves [04:53.92]were taken through "violence" and "coercion." [04:58.84]A statement from Japan in 1993 [05:02.88]admitted that women were taken "against their own will," [05:07.48]although the nation's leaders later denied it. [05:12.04]In South Korea, activists denounced Ramseyer [05:16.92]and called for his resignation. [05:19.76]Chung Young-ai, South Korea's minister of gender equality and family, [05:26.36]criticized the paper last week. [05:29.72]She called it "an attempt to distort the facts [05:34.28]about the Japanese military's ‘comfort women.'" [05:38.28]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM