Justice Without Verdicts: How Jaeye Baek’s Research Uncovers the Global Fight for Historical Memory

CW: sexual slavery, historical trauma

What does justice look like when the courts say no? For Jaeye Baek, a PhD candidate in Political Science and Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, it means documenting how survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery—often called “comfort women”—continue their struggle for dignity even after decades of legal defeats. 

Baek’s dissertation investigates how survivors, activists, and lawyers have kept these cases alive for more than thirty years across Japan, South Korea, and the United States. 

“Even without winning in court, these legal struggles create spaces for memory, solidarity, and political action,” she explains. “The absence of courtroom wins doesn’t mean failure—it means the movement adapts, survives, and creates alternative forms of justice.” 

A Personal and Scholarly Journey 

Baek’s commitment to the topic began in her undergraduate years at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. During a summer program visiting historical sites tied to the “comfort women” system, she met a survivor whose words reshaped her path: “Testimony is another form of violence. I am tired. It’s the younger generation’s responsibility to remember and carry it forward.” 

That moment transformed Baek’s academic trajectory. She went on to earn her M.A. in Sociology from Seoul National University, focusing on the failure of postwar tribunals to address these crimes. 

Drawn to UMass Amherst for institutional expertise in international human rights, legal mobilization, and gender-based violence, she joined the doctoral program in 2019 to expand her research through both Political Science and Legal Studies. 

Inside a Movement Without Borders 

Baek’s dissertation combines archival research in Korean, Japanese, and English, more than 120 hours of participant observation, and 35 in-depth interviews with lawyers, scholars, and activists.

Her focus includes three pivotal legal cases in Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. Through this work, she documents what she calls “hopping on and off”—a decentralized form of activism where participants engage when they can, step back when necessary, and rejoin later. 

“There’s no centralized leadership,” Baek explains. “The movement keeps going like a bus route—people get on and off, but it always moves forward.” 

This decentralized structure has helped the movement survive repeated setbacks, from dismissals in U.S. courts under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to losses in Japanese courts. 

For Baek, the point is clear: legal advocacy here is more than a quest for verdicts. It is a sustained, transnational practice of dissent, remembrance, and resilience. 

UMass Amherst as a Research Home 

Baek credits UMass Amherst with providing the intellectual and material support that has made her fieldwork possible. 

She is a 2025 Dissertation Completion Fellow, a Graduate Researcher Affiliate with the Human Security Lab, and a recipient of multiple awards, including the AAUW International Fellowship and a Travel Grant from the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Engagement. 

“These awards have given me the resources to conduct interviews in multiple countries, attend weekly protests, and access archives that would otherwise be out of reach,” she says. “It’s not just financial support—it’s a statement that this research matters.” 

Why It Matters 

The “comfort women” movement, Baek notes, has implications far beyond East Asia. Its strategies—weekly demonstrations in Seoul, legislative lobbying in Washington, and cross-border legal cooperation—offer lessons for other causes, from climate justice to racial justice movements. 

“When international tribunals fail, when governments deny reparations, these grassroots legal strategies keep the issue alive,” she says. “Movements facing unresponsive legal systems can learn from this resilience.” 

Her findings suggest that litigation without victory can still be a durable political strategy—especially when embedded in broader campaigns for memory, dignity, and recognition. 

By documenting these dynamics, Baek hopes her dissertation will serve both as a scholarly contribution and as a resource for activists confronting entrenched injustice. 

Looking Ahead 

After completing her PhD, Baek plans to expand her work on transnational legal mobilization and historical justice, potentially developing it into a book. 

“We need to keep asking: who has been excluded from justice, and how can we do better? Justice isn’t just about verdicts—it’s about memory, dignity, and the fight to be heard.” 

As she prepares to complete her doctorate at UMass Amherst, Baek’s work demonstrates that justice is not only written in verdicts but also in the persistence of memory and the collective fight for recognition. 

Written by Makhai Pells, PhD candidate in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, as part of the Graduate School's Public Writing Fellows Program.