Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkeraman Militer (Teenage Girls in the Military’s Grasp)

Content warning: This book discusses sexual violence, war crimes, and trauma.

About the Book

Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkeraman Militer (Teenage Girls in the Military’s Grasp) is not a novel but a collection of historical testimonies compiled by Pramoedya Ananta Toer during his exile on Buru Island. The book documents the harrowing stories of Indonesian teenage girls who were forcibly taken by the Japanese military during World War II to become comfort women (Jugun Ianfu).

In 1943, the Japanese occupation government issued secret orders, never officially recorded, promising young Indonesian women the opportunity to study in Tokyo and Shonanto. These promises were lies. The girls, many from educated and wealthy families, were instead forced into sexual slavery to serve Japanese soldiers. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, these victims were abandoned without compensation, support, or even acknowledgment of what had been done to them.

Pramoedya collected these accounts while imprisoned on Buru Island as a political prisoner during Indonesia’s New Order regime. Using testimonies from fellow prisoners and local Buru residents who encountered these abandoned women, he pieced together a forgotten chapter of Indonesian history. The book estimates that between 200,000 to 400,000 women across Asia, including Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, China, and others, were subjected to this systematic sexual violence by the Japanese military.

The Painful Irony

Reading this book left me with a profound sense that history could be our future. We must learn from these atrocities so we never fall into the same trap twice. The systematic deception, the exploitation of trust, the abandonment of victims, these patterns of abuse can repeat if we choose to forget.

What struck me most powerfully was how these crimes were perpetrated through official channels, yet deliberately left unrecorded. The Japanese military erased their tracks, ensuring no official documentation would remain. This erasure continued after the war when neither Japan nor the newly independent Indonesian government took responsibility for these victims.

One aspect of this tragedy that particularly haunts me is the irony involving the victims’ families. These were educated, wealthy families, people with resources, connections, and social standing. Yet when their daughters disappeared, these families never put considerable effort into finding them.

Why? The answer lies in the painful intersection of culture, shame, and social stigma. These girls had been “dishonored” in the eyes of society. Rather than being seen as victims of war crimes, they were viewed through the lens of shame and propriety. Their families, bound by cultural expectations and customs, chose silence over search, reputation over rescue.

This reveals a heartbreaking truth: we can become so bound by culture and customs that we forget about others. Even our own daughters. Even when they are suffering unimaginable horrors. The social pressure to maintain family honor became more powerful than the instinct to protect and reclaim stolen children.

A Forgotten Tragedy

What makes this book even more essential is that it documents a tragedy that has been largely forgotten or deliberately ignored. After Japan’s defeat, these women were simply abandoned, or released “like chickens from a burning coop,” as Pramoedya writes. No transport home, no compensation, no medical care, no acknowledgment of what they had endured.

Many could not return home even if they wanted to. Some were too ashamed. Others had been abandoned in foreign territories. Some had suffered such severe trauma, physical and psychological, that they could not make the journey. Those who did return often found no welcome, only more stigma and rejection.

The Indonesian government, focused on building a new nation, had no interest in addressing this uncomfortable history. Japan, eager to rebuild its image, denied responsibility. And so these women—girls, really, many taken at ages 13-19—were erased from history twice: first by the crime itself, then by collective amnesia.

Why This Matters Today

This book is not just about the past. It speaks to ongoing issues:

• Sexual violence continues to be used as a weapon of war in conflicts around the world. Understanding this history helps us recognize and resist these patterns.

• When families and societies choose shame over support, victims suffer twice, first from the crime, then from abandonment. We must challenge cultures that prioritize reputation over human dignity.

• If Pramoedya had not collected these testimonies, this chapter of history might have been completely lost. Recording and believing survivors’ stories is essential work.

Final Thoughts

Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkeraman Militer is a difficult but necessary read. It forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about war, colonialism, and how societies treat victims of sexual violence. The book is a reminder that the most vulnerable, young women from colonised nations, often bear the heaviest costs of war while receiving the least recognition or support.

May we learn from this history. May we never allow cultural norms and social pressure to override our basic humanity and responsibility to protect the vulnerable. May we remember these women not with pity but with the recognition that they deserved, and still deserve, justice, dignity, and acknowledgment of the crimes committed against them.

About the Author

Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925-2006) is one of Indonesia’s greatest writers. He spent 14 years as a political prisoner on Buru Island during Indonesia’s New Order regime, where he wrote several of his most important works. He is best known for the Buru Quartet and for his unflinching documentation of Indonesian history from the perspective of the colonized and oppressed. Read reviews of his other works here.

Note: The English title of this book is sometimes translated as “Young Virgins in the Military’s Grasp” or “Teenage Girls in the Clutches of the Military.” The original Indonesian “Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkeraman Militer” was first published in 2001.

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