Plaque for ‘comfort women’ memorial gets SF arts panel OK

Two years after the Board of Supervisors cleared a memorial to honor the “comfort women” sex slaves of World War II, the San Francisco Arts Commission has signed off on its plaque.

The term refers to an estimated 200,000 women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army.

Japanese prime ministers have acknowledged and apologized for the wartime sexual enslavement.

The project will come before the board at a later date, when the commission gives a final approval to the statue, a gift to the city from the Comfort Women Justice Coalition.

“This memorial is dedicated to the memory of these women and to eradicating sexual violence and sex trafficking throughout the world,” the plaque’s inscription reads.