Zhu Qiaomei, 94; China’s Oldest Surviving WWII-Era Sex Slave

Zhu Qiaomei, 94, China’s oldest surviving sex slave from World War II, who had fought for compensation from the Japanese government, died Sunday in Shanghai, China’s state media reported. The cause of death was not announced.

She was among seven women on Shanghai’s Chongming Island, in the Yangtze River, known to have been forced to work as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers during the war. Her ordeal lasted more than two years.

Zhu was among a group of former sex slaves from various Asian countries who filed a class-action lawsuit against the Japanese government in 2000 in the District Court of Washington, D.C.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the case, initially rejected, to be reconsidered in light of a ruling last year that a federal law allows American courts to hear old disputes over such things as wartime crimes unless the suits are barred by treaties.

A court document said Zhu lived at home during the war but was forced to work in a military brothel and raped repeatedly by soldiers stationed nearby. Afterward, Zhu suffered from a series of health and psychological problems.