Survivor Testimony:

Maria Rosa Henson

Philippines

Handout to accompany Prezi presentation:

“Comfort Women:” Japanese Military Sexual Slavery during the Asia-Pacific
War

Biography taken from http://www.awf.or.jp/e3/oralhistory-00.html

Maria Rosa L. Henson was born in Pasay City on December 5, 1927.

She was the extramarital daughter of a bid landowner and his
housemaid. When she was 14 years old, the Pacific War broke out
and the Philippines were occupied by the Japanese. In February of
1942 she was first raped by Japanese soldiers, an incident that
repeated several times in the weeks that followed. Feeling strong anger toward the Japanese
military, she joined the HUKBALAHAP, an anti-Japanese guerilla group. In April of 1943 she
was arrested by Japanese soldiers at a checkpoint in the suburbs of Angeles and taken to the
garrison. There she was forced to be a comfort woman. She spent the next nine months of her life
in this way. In January of 1944 she was saved by guerillas. After Japan's capitulation, she
married with a soldier of the Philippines army. She had two daughters, but her husband joined
the communist army and died. She worked as a charwoman and a factory worker. In 1992 she
decided to come out after hearing about other survivors on a radio program. She was the first
Filipina woman to speak out about her experience. In 1996 she was one of the three women who
became the first recipients of the Asian Women’s Fund project. Maria Rosa Henson passed away
on August 18, 1997.

Retrieved from http://labanforthelolas.blogspot.ca/2007/03/excerpt-from-maria-rosa-

hensons.html

Without warning, a Japanese soldier entered my room and pointed his bayonet at my chest. I
thought he was going to kill me, but he used his bayonet to slash my dress and tear it open. I was
too frightened to scream. And then he raped me. When he was done, other soldiers came into my
room and they took turns raping me.

Twelve soldiers raped me in quick succession, after which I was given half an hour to rest. Then
twelve more soldiers followed. They all lined up outside the room waiting for their turn. I bled so
much and was in such pain that I could not even stand up. The next morning, I was too weak to
get up. A woman brought me a cup of tea and breakfast of rice and dried fish. I wanted to ask her
some questions, but the guard in the hall outside stopped us from saying anything to each other.

I could not eat. I felt much pain and my vagina was swollen. I cried and cried, calling my
mother. I could not resist the soldiers because they might kill me. So what else could I do? Every
day, from two in the afternoon to ten in the evening, the soldiers lined up outside my room and
the rooms of the six other women there. I did not have time to wash after each assault. At the end
of the day, I just closed my eyes and cried.
(Handout for “Comfort Women:” Japanese Military Sexual Slavery during the Asia-Pacific War, prepared by BC ALPHA
www.alpha-canada.org)