 First edition | |
| Author | Jan Ruff O'Herne |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Published | 1994 |
| Publisher | Tom Thompson |
| ISBN | 1875892001 |
| OCLC | 609506903 |
Fifty Years of Silence: The Extraordinary Memoir of a War Rape Survivor is a personal memoir written by Jan Ruff O'Herne, a "comfort woman" who was forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army.
In 1997, it won the TDK Australian Audio Book Award in the category of Abridged Non-Fiction. [1]
Richard Tanter, referring to the dismissive responses in 2007 by proponents of "Japanese restorationist nationalism" including Koike Yuriko later Japan's defense minister, and then Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, said that the unwillingness to admit these events made Japan "The sick man of Asia". He describes the book and the events it narrates in some detail, referring to it as "her remarkable book Fifty Years of Silence". [2]
Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The name "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese ianfu (慰安婦), a euphemism for "prostitutes".
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Jeanne Alida "Jan" Ruff-O'Herne was a Dutch Australian of Irish ancestry and human rights activist known for campaigning internationally against war rape. During World War II, Ruff-O'Herne was forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army. After remaining silent for fifty years, Ruff-O'Herne spoke out publicly from the 1990s until her death to demand a formal apology from the Japanese government and to highlight the plight of other "comfort women". On her death, the South Australian Attorney-General noted: "her story of survival is a tribute to her strength and courage, and she will be sorely missed not only here in South Australia, but around the world."
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Abridged Non-Fiction Award: ABC Enterprises, Fifty Years of Silence, written and narrated by Jan Ruff-O’Hernes
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