Horrors of the Red House
BBC World, 2016
Hundreds of thousands of women and girls across Asia were raped and forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War Two.
Most were in Korea and China, but what’s less well known is that the operation extended across the Japanese empire, as far afield as Burma, New Guinea, and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, only about 70 of the 1,000 Filipino women who were forced into sexual slavery are still thought to be alive.
This film documents the stories of the last survivors.
Some have been offered a direct apology and compensation from the Japanese government – but not those in the Philippines.
The women in the Philippines demand a full public apology that acknowledges explicitly the ordeal they went through and accepts legal responsibility, as well as compensation paid by the Japanese state.
The documentary shows their struggles for their suffering to finally be recognised.
Many women and girls were assaulted by Japanese soldiers in the Red House.
Today the majestic blood-red villa is crumbling, but memories of the atrocities committed inside it haven’t faded.
Sisters Lita (right) and Mileng were 13 and 15 years old when Japanese soldiers came to Mapanique.
They were forcibly taken to the Red House where they were raped.
Estellita was only 14 when she was captured in the central Philippines and taken to a Japanese garrison.
For almost three weeks, she was imprisoned and repeatedly raped.
She stayed silent about her ordeal for nearly 50 years.
Estellita is part of a group which actively campaigns for a full public apology from the Japanese Government that acknowledges explicitly the ordeal they went through and accepts legal responsibility, as well as compensation paid by the Japanese state. Rally in Manila, May 2016
Today, the Red House is home to a family of curious goats.