The Fallacy of Contract in Sexual Slave

J. Mark Ramseyer, a Harvard law professor, published a troubling recharacterization of the forced sex slavery committed by Japan during the Second World War as a legitimate contractual arrangement (“Contracting for sex in the Pacific War,” International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 65, 2021).

The paper argues that wartime prostitution during the Second World War can be understood in line with the practices of brothels that the author contends existed in Japan and Korea at that time. The paper describes this process as a contractual one under which the girls, freely participating in prostitution, received a substantial reward.

This argument is flawed and lacks factual foundation. Ramseyer presumes that there were indeed contracts under which the girls freely agreed to participate in wartime prostitution in return for a significant compensation.

This presumption runs counter to numerous testimonies and the findings of international organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Commission, that the girls were coerced, deceived, or otherwise manipulated into sexual servitude under the direct or indirect involvement of the Japanese government or the military. The Japanese government also acknowledged its involvement in the 1993 Kono statement.

Yet, the article does not introduce any of these important counter-arguments weighing against the existence of such voluntary transactions, and the author’s questionable approach goes to credibility and academic honesty.

This is a case where academic freedom has been abused to advance a claim that is not only factually incorrect but also inflicts further injustice, pain, and insult upon the victims of the serious human rights violation.

The author of the paper, Ramseyer, lived in Japan for 18 years in his youth and has recently been decorated by the Japanese government, which has denied its responsibility for the perpetration of wartime sexual slavery.
Prof. Y.S. Lee, the Director of the Law and Development Institute, wrote a critique on Ramseyer with Profs. Natsu Saito and Jonathan Todres, entitled “The Fallacy of Contract in Sexual Slavery.”