ABSTRACT
During the 1990s transnational advocacy groups seeking historical justice for sexual slaves of the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces transformed the international discourse surrounding the plight of these women by reframing the issue as a women’s rights and human rights issue. However, although they changed the normative foundations of the discourse, their choice to partner with states to achieve their goals meant that power remained with those states, whose interests ultimately differed from those of the transnational actors. And, although it was NGOs who got the “comfort women” onto the international agenda, state actors and their allies have put it back in its box. This suggest that, even in an age when non-state actors can wield significant influence, the state still holds the power.
