Time running out to hear comfort women's stories, says Hong Kong author

Fewer than 200 "comfort women" survivors are believed to still be alive, so the need to tell their stories has become more urgent, said the Hong Kong-based author of a new book about the former sex slaves who worked in Japanese military brothels during the second world war.

Sylvia Friedman, 41, spent more than a decade researching her book, Silenced No More: Voices of Comfort Women, interviewing dozens of former sex slaves as well as ex-soldiers who raped the young girls at the "comfort stations".

Friedman, who was born in South Korea and grew up in Canada, first learned of "comfort women" when she was 15, around the same age as many others when they were tricked into years of sexual servitude.

Their horrific stories made a deep impact on the former human rights reporter and motivated her to write a book.

"It's an issue of historical memory," she said, noting how many Japanese students in past generations never learned about the brothels.

"So my goal is to lay a foundation of truth so that we can begin a reconciliation process."

From being a journalist, Friedman now works in philanthropy, linking corporate donors with humanitarian projects.