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Japanese troops raped and abused thousands of Asian women during World War II. Those who survived are fighting for justice. Still fighting after more than ten years, Pilar Frias keeps her spirits high. She prays that one day she will be granted justice for the pain and anguish she endured as a sex slave for Japan’s Imperial Army during World War II. At 75, she clings to the hope that she will receive an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, whose soldiers raped and abused thousands of Asian women. The women were conscripted and trafficked using a combination of force, threats, and deception. They were then confined to military-run brothels or "comfort stations" on Japanese army bases. According to reports, there were between 100,000 and 200,000 "comfort women"–a direct translation from the Japanese "jugun ianfu"–during wartime. Estimates say that only 30 percent of them survived. Some women saw others being bayoneted or beaten to death for contracting venereal diseases. Some were killed when the soldiers failed to orgasm. Some lost consciousness while being brutally raped. Others just died during the night. The comfort women came from all over Asia, particularly Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. In the Philippines, survivors of the trauma are now called "lolas", an affectionate term which means "grandmothers". As a lola, Frias considers herself fortunate to have survived. And with every last ounce of her physical strength, she is determined to make sure her story is not forgotten. In a low and firm voice, Frias shares some of the traumatic experiences she kept from her loved ones for almost 50 years. She was first raped at 16, when three Japanese soldiers came to her home looking for her father. He was a barrio captain, a position akin to a mayor. Instead, the soldiers took Frias and two other girls to a garrison miles from their home village. Night after night, the women were raped by Japanese soldiers. The first time she revealed her ordeal was after hearing of Rosa Henson, who in 1992 became the first Filipina comfort woman to expose the abuse. Henson was just 14 when a Japanese military officer raped her twice at a military camp in Manila in 1942. A year later, Henson was taken to a comfort station in a military hospital in Angeles City, 80 km north of Manila. Dying in 1997, Henson never lived to see justice. But she was able to record part of her trauma in an autobiography titled, Comfort Women: Slave of Destiny. "The bathroom did not even have a door, so the soldiers watched us. We were all naked, and they laughed at us, especially me and the other young girl who did not have any pubic hair," she wrote. "My work began, and I lay down as one by one the soldiers raped me. Everyday, anywhere from 12 to 20 soldiers assaulted me. There were times when there were as many 30; they came to the garrison in truckloads," reads another excerpt. "Everyday, there were incidents of violence and humiliation," she continues. "When the soldiers raped me, I felt like a pig. Sometimes they tied up my right leg with a waist band or a belt and hung it on a nail in the wall as they violated me." Henson was raped even when she was sick. When she had malaria, a Japanese soldier became angry, banged her head against the wall until she passed out, and then raped her. Henson’s revelations prompted Frias and hundreds of others to come forward with similar stories. But for many women, telling their families was the hardest of all. Some of them were abandoned by their husbands, who blamed the women and considered them spoilt by Japanese soldiers. Others found their children just as insensitive. In April 1993, Henson led a group of women taking their case to Tokyo’s district court. Each of them sought 20 million yen (US $170,000 at current rates). After four long years in court, the judge dismissed the case on the grounds that attributing legal responsibility was impossible. Henson agreed to accept compensation from the private Asian Women’s Fund, an initiative of the Japanese government that has survived on funds from individuals and private donors like Toyota. Other comfort women rejected the fund as a means of redress. They argued that Tokyo must pay legal reparations to survivors. The fund has only moral obligations; it lacks legal responsibilities. Twenty-six women have received money through a Philippine government program under the Department of Social Work and Development. Called "Lolas in Crisis", the program provides for the basic living needs of the women, especially those abandoned by their families. But the different funding sources have divided some of the women, especially those who argue that accepting support weakens their claim for compensation from the Japanese government. In December 2000, several NGOs and women’s groups convened a special tribunal in Tokyo.