The War and Women's Human Rights Museum is located in Seoul, South Korea. Since its establishment in 2012, the museum has attracted a wide range of visitors, from tourists to locals. The museum "strives to create a better world for future generations by raising awareness of past history and memory through various exhibitions and educational programs and recording ongoing activism for women, human rights, and peace."
I started volunteering at the museum during the summer of 2022. Since then, I've volunteered in the winter of 2022, the summer and winter of 2023, and most recently, the summer of 2024.
Volunteering varied from serving as a tour guide and translator for historical exhibitions to developing educational materials and fundraisers to support surviving Korean "comfort women." Additionally, I assisted in an organized gathering to commemorate comfort women before the Japanese embassy and helped set up exhibitions, as pictured below.
A notable fundraiser I participated in involved making butterfly bracelets, with proceeds supporting victims of sexual violence in conflict and surviving comfort women. The recurring symbol of yellow butterflies represents the hope that all women suffering from sexual violence in armed conflicts, including victims of Japanese military sexual slavery, would be able to spread their wings free from discrimination, repression, and violence.
Another form of volunteering was making posts for their Instagram @war_women_museum to boost their online presence and thus increase awareness. I wrote reflective paragraphs in both English and Korean, accompanied by moving photographs that I took.
Each time I volunteered at the War and Women's Human Rights Museum, it was a rewarding opportunity to educate and make a meaningful impact on many people while supporting the comfort women cause and other women in conflict.