Intersectionality of early sexual trauma and aging in two Truku comfort women survivors’ life trajectories

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ABSTRACT While existing literature has pointed out the effects of early sexual trauma on Indigenous comfort women survivors in Taiwan, the impact of the interplay of survivors’ sexual trauma with their multiple social locations on their life trajectories is rarely discussed. In this article, two Truku Indigenous survivors’ life stories are reconstructed to explore the effects of early-life sexual trauma and the social locations that shaped their life trajectories via intersectionality and life course lenses. We argue that Truku survivors’ life trajectories intersect with four-layered structural oppression from the state, society, and communities different from that of Han Chinese survivors. The findings of this study reveal unique features of Indigenous survivors that should not be overlooked.