2026 Global Action Day

On August 12, 2026, HANA Center co-sponsored KAN-WIN's 14th annual Global Action Day to honor and demand justice for the "Comfort Women" survivors who were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.

The Statue of Peace, or sonyeosang, symbolizes the survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery, as well as the ongoing fight to end the conditions that allow for sexual violence.

HANA's Suburban Youth Council member Hannah Yang spoke during the event:

"As a Korean American high school student, I see the Statue of Peace as more than a statue. I see it as resilience many young women have built under the patriarchy system. It reminds me that the history of Korean women is also the history that I inherit, that my generation has the power to turn remembrance into action. Together, we will stand with survivors, fight against gender-based violence, and demand justice be upheld, and embrace the truth, not hide from it."

HANA and event participants took time to sit in the empty chair beside The Statue of Peace in solidarity then marched to the Japanese Consulate together. Thank you to HANA community navigators, youth, community members, and staff for joining us. Thank you to KAN-WIN for their continuing advocacy for justice for "Comfort Women" survivors.

Learn more about the "Comfort Women" survivors and their seven demands to the Japanese government, who to this day, refuses to admit to their wartime crimes or deliver an official apology.