Groups urge recognition of war crime

Campaigners call for the plight of women used as sex slaves in the Philippines to be acknowledged by the education system and the Japanese government, as Avigail Olarte reports from Manila.

The elderly protesters held their placards in silence but their message came across loud and clear: A call for justice for "comfort women", a euphemism for those who suffered brutal sexual abuse by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces during World War II.

At a rally held under a scorching sun outside the Japanese embassy in Manila on March 5, one of the victims, 83-year-old Aberan de los Reyes, called on the Japanese government "to apologize and admit it (sexual slavery) really happened". De los Reyes was joined by a group of around 60 women, including family members spanning three generations, at the annual gathering.