Abstract:

"After 50 years, Jan Ruff-O'Herne, a vivacious grandmother from Adelaide, Australia, at last reveals the terrible secret that irrevocably changed the direction of her life. As a young girl, she was taken prisoner by the Japanese in Java during World War II and forcibly moved to a secret brothel for Japanese officers where, along with seven other virgins, she was forced to endure countless rapes and beatings. 50 YEARS OF SILENCE is Jan's story. She made the brave decision to speak out publicly after seeing television reports of Korean women demanding justice. It is estimated that the Japanese military systematically press ganged over two hundred thousand women and girls to serve in military brothels. The film shows the ways in which her courage, faith, and inner strength sustained her through events in Java, the ensuing years of sleepless nights, to the present day where she has become a source of help and inspiration for many other women around the world."