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Prostitution is said to be one of the oldest trades in the world. In recent years, many countries prohibit prostitution. However, during wartime there were many countries which allowed it.

During world war, some countries took initiative to set up brothels called military brothels

This article will introduce the definition, necessity, and problems of military brothels.
In addition, if you want to know more about the laws and necessity of prostitution in various countries, please check this article as well.

Definition of a military brothel

A military brothel is a brothel that is authorized or tacitly approved by the government or military to be used by soldiers It is thought to have existed since or earlier than ancient Greek and Egyptian times, although the forms differ.

The term also differed from period and country. In the past, the French army called it the “Candy boxes”, “Turkish baths” by the Korean army during the Vietnam War and “comfort stations” by the Japanese army during World War II.

Unlike the ordinary brothels, the facility built by the government and the military were used exclusively for military generals and soldiers and workers were paid by the military or institutions connected with the military.

Types of military brothels

There were two types of military brothels. Publicly approved military brothels, and tacitly approved brothels with local prostitutes, effectively turning them into military brothels.
The women who worked in military brothels were:

• Locally recruited women
• Women accompanying the military from their own country

In both cases, it is said that there were women who were originally prostitutes or women who became prostitutes in search of income, and those who were forced into prostitution.

The only thing that anti-Japanese tribalists in South Korea present as “evidence” to support their “theory of forced recruitment” is the testimony of former comfort women ― testimony that they were taken by Japanese military and police.

Reference：Harvard Thesis on Comfort Women Foretells the Decline of ‘Anti-Japan Tribalism’- JapanForward

History of Military Brothels

There is a long history of the military brothels captivating women as sex slaves from B.C.

One of the earliest recorded cases was during the Crusades. It is not known if military brothels were set up, but it is known that prostitutes accompanied the crusaders.

Also, when the Spanish invaded the Netherlands in the 16th century, about 1,200 prostitutes accompanied them. Prostitutes also accompanied the army during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century.

World War I

Around the time of World War I, venereal disease spread among the soldiers of various countries.

This was thought to be caused by the fact that soldiers were freely having sexual intercourse with prostitutes in the war zones. For safety reasons militaries of various countries began to set up their own military brothels recruiting local women.

 

Public military brothels.	Tacitly approved, or something similar to military brothels existed.
United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia	United States.

World War II era

During the Second World War, countries such as Germany, France, Japan, and Australia began to have military brothels.
The United Kingdom did not establish military brothels, but tacitly allowed its generals to use brothels in war zones. The United States banned prostitution but introduced a system of public prostitution in its colonies.

 

Public military brothels.	Tacitly approved, or something similar to military brothels existed.
Germany, France, Japan, Australia	United States, England

The Necessity of Military Brothels

If we look only at the aspect of satisfying the sexual desires of soldiers, the establishment of military brothels seems to be a selfish act by the military.

However, if we look at it from a different perspective, we can see that military brothels were necessary in the world at that time.

 

• To prevent sex crimes
• Provide income for women
• Prevents the spread of sexually transmitted diseases

Effective in preventing sex crimes.

When an army occupied an opposing country, there have been many cases of rape. This ethically unacceptable practice is thought to be caused by the generals who had no means of venting their sexual desires.

During the Normandy landings (1944), the mayor of Le Havre requested the U.S. to set up their own military brothel, which was dismissed, even after the victim of French women increased.

It is also known that during World War II, the Soviet army did not have a military brothels, which led to large-scale rape incidents in Berlin and Manchuria.

The set-up of military brothels was an action to prevent large scale sexual crimes.

Bringing Income to Women

During the war, men were conscripted in every country and normal economic activities were not possible, many women who lived outside of war zone lived in hardship.

During the war, men were conscripted in every country and normal economic activities were not possible, many women who lived outside of war zone lived in hardship.

In fact, in the areas that were colonized during World War II and where military brothels were set up, there are people who believe that they were able to survive because of the military brothels.

Preventing the spread of STDs

Before the establishment of military brothels became the norm, the use of local private brothels was the norm in many countries.As a result, venereal diseases spread among the soldiers. The spread of STDs to ordinary men through prostitutes became a worldwide problem.

To cope with this problem, military brothels implemented thorough testing for STDs, and some even required prostitutes to be registered. For example, the U.S. adopted a law (the American Plan) to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, stating that any woman within five miles of a military camp could be arrested and her citizenship could be suspended.This law resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of 15,520 women. (Only women could be arrested and imprisoned).

Problems with Military Brothels

There was a need for military brothels, and depending on how you look at it, it could be said that they contributed to society.

However, some women did not work by choice but forced into prostitution at the military brothel, this is still a subject of frequent controversy.

An example of a controversial military brothel.

One example of a military brothel causing controversy is the military comfort station set up by the Japanese military during World War II.At the time, the Japanese military set up military brothels called comfort stations. While some claim that the comfort women were consensual at that time, some Koreans who were former military comfort women claim that they were forced to go there.

This issue was supposed to have been completely and finally settled in 1965 with the signing of the “Japan-Korea Claims and Economic Cooperation Agreement” between the two countries, but even after that, the South Korean side often points it out as a diplomatic issue.
In response to this, the Japanese government and the Japanese people worked together to establish the Asian Women’s Fund to provide practical relief to the former comfort women, providing them with compensation money and delivering letters of apology from the prime minister.

In 2015, Japan and South Korea reached another agreement confirming the final and irreversible resolution of the comfort women issue. Nevertheless, South Korea does not abide by the agreement and criticizes Japan, which is one of the factors that worsen the relationship between Japan and South Korea.

In addition, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, which first reported that the Japanese military had forced Korean women into prostitution, later officially announced that this report was wrong.

The military brothel had its necessities and problems.

This article presents the definition, necessity, and problems of military brothels. It is believed that military brothels were necessary for three reasons

• Prevent sex crimes
• Provide income for women
• Preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases

On the other hand, it is also true that some women were forced into prostitution.

Thus, when thinking about military brothels, please remember that there are two sides to the story.