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International Academic Conference (hybrid): Memory and Responsibility in History, and the Role of the International Community
This conference, titled ‘Memory and Responsibility in History, and the Role of the International Community’, was organized to reflect anew on the memories and records of wartime sexual violence, including the issue of the Japanese military “comfort women,” as a shared task of humanity, and to seek ways for international dissemination and institutional responses.
Over the past decades, survivors’ testimonies and archival records have become more than memories of the past; they are invaluable assets that remind the international community of its responsibility to advance human rights, peace, and historical justice. Yet the Memory of the World (MoW) nomination process at UNESCO has been stalled in institutional deadlock since 2016. This is a concern and a serious challenge for the global community on the issue of how to preserve the historical memories.
This event aims to critically examine such structural bottlenecks and the limitations of international responses, while deepening academic and policy discussions on how to preserve and amplify victims’ voices. Through dialogue with European scholars and experts, the event seeks to expand an issue rooted in Asia into a global agenda of memory and responsibility, and to strengthen networks across academia, media, and civil society.
We hope that through these discussions, we can reaffirm that preserving the memory of wartime sexual violence is not merely about confronting the past, but a pressing challenge for peace and human rights today. By seeking ways to improve UNESCO’s mechanisms and charting new paths of international cooperation, this gathering strives to ensure that survivors’ voices will no longer remain in silence.
Programme
13:00-13:05 Opening Remarks Hyein Han (ICJN)
13:05-13:15 Welcoming Remarks
13:15-13:40 Keynote Speech: How Should the International Community Respond to the Memory of Wartime Sexual Violence and the Voices of Victims? Heisoo, Shin (ICJN and former UN CESCR)
13:40-13:50 Discussion and Q&A Chris Deacon(SOAS)
13:50-14:10 Characteristics and Value of the “Comfort Women” Archives Mina Watanabe (WAM, Tokyo)
14:10-14:30 Contested Memory and Institutional Failure: The UNESCO MoW ‘Comfort Women’ Case Jinsung Jeon (Korean National Commission, UNESCO)
14:30-14:40 Discussion and Q&A Seunghoon,Chae (Leeds University), Gunyoung, Kim (Cambridge University)
14:40-15:00 Break
15:00-15:50 Roundtable Discussion: War, Women, History, Memory, Commemoration, Rights, and Justice Natalya Benkhaled-Vince (Oxford University), Samuel Ritholtz (Oxford University), Yuna Han (Oxford University)
15:50-16:00 Closing Remarks and Wrap-up Heisoo, Shin (ICJN)
The event will be held in a hybrid format, and we warmly welcome online attendance via Zoom:
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Zoom Link: us06web.zoom.us/j/86268201616?pwd=6RZirxszaRVRUYOZQgwZx7pOaMknb4.1
ID: 862 6820 1616 / PW: 605208
Date:
25 October 2025, 12:30
Venue:
Exeter College, Turl Street OX1 3DP
Venue Details:
FitzHugh Auditorium, and online via Zoom
Speaker: Various Speakers
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Belinda Clark
