New Jersey's lower house has voted to pass a resolution recognizing the women and girls forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military during the war.
Introduced to the state legislative body last September, 76 of the 80 assembly members approved last Thursday the resolution that demands the Japanese government "accept historical responsibility" for the so-called comfort women and also "educate future generations about these crimes." Four assembly members did not vote.
The document states that "about 200,000 young women" were forced into sexual slavery, but the Japanese government destroyed "official documentation," making it difficult to accurately estimate the total number.
The state has two comfort women memorials and both are in Bergen County, which sits next to New York on the Hudson River.