Episode 328: Culture beyond Time and Space series: Professor Julie Chen

“Song of the Reed”, a documentary film about four taiwanese women’s life stories, who suffered military sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War Two, how they overcame physical and mental trauma and grew in their attitudes toward life through 16 years of Physical and Mental Health Workshops.  In this film, the director Hsiu-Chng Wu manifests the history of the ‘Comfort Women’ issue and its social impacts through the grandmom-aged taiwanese women’s daily activities at home and with their families, in the therapies and in the groups. To reflect from our today’s world, the organizer and facilitator Professor Julie Chen from the East Asian studies of Helsinki University wants to raise the awareness of women’s rights, particularly those who are suffering systematic violence against their will.  As Professor Chen comments in the interview: ‘The whole lesson we learnt is that we need to believe that there are people willing to accept us and to listen to us even when you have faced such a challenge in your life.  In most developed countries, there are NGOs willing to work with you and to walk out from your trauma.  So we need to willing to seek helps and we need to willing to talk about it.  In fact, when you stand out to talk about it, also encourage other victims to stand out and to document the injustice that has been happened in history.’The Film Screening and the dialogue with film director: Friday, 5th of November, 12.00-14.00 Helsinki time (Register before 1st of November, 2021 via https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/113384/lomakkeet.html )Info & registration for the film screening Song of the Reed and dialogue with film director Hsiu-Ching Wu:https://blogs.helsinki.fi/spotlighttaiwan/film-screening/https://www.facebook.com/helsinkichinastudieshttps://twitter.com/julieyuwenchen?lang=en