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Maria Rosa Henson

  • Writer: chanfebe04
    chanfebe04
  • Jul 9
  • 3 min read

Updated: Jul 14


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The first Filipina survivor to go public about being a “comfort woman,” Maria’s voice helped reclaim personal trauma as political resistance. She testified before global audiences, joined advocacy networks, and demanded historical accountability. Her story reshaped how the Philippines and international communities understand gendered wartime suffering and empowered others to follow.

🕊️ LIFE BEFORE THE WAR

  • Birth & Background: Born 5 December 1927 in Pasay City, Philippines, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy landowner and his housemaid. [1] [2] [3] [4]

  • Youth Shaped by Colonial Inequality: Her identity as a mestiza illegitimate child exposed her to class discrimination in the American-occupied Philippines. [3] [4] [5] [6]

  • Capture and Enslavement: In April 1943, while carrying weapons for the Huk, she was captured at a Japanese checkpoint. [4] [5] [6] [7]

  • Held in Comfort Station: She was imprisoned at a converted hospital in Angeles City for nine months, raped daily by up to two dozen soldiers. [7]

“Twelve in the morning, twelve in the afternoon. I wasn’t even allowed time to cry.”[5]

  • Liberation: In January 1944, Huk guerrillas attacked the garrison and rescued her. Still, she remained silent for decades. [4] [5] [6] [8]

🕊️ CONTRIBUTIONS TO WWII RESISTANCE IN ASIA

  • Breaking the Silence: In 1992, at age 65, Rosa became the first Filipina “comfort woman” survivor to publicly testify, breaking nearly 50 years of silence. Her press conference inspired over 50 other Filipinas to come forward. [2] [3] [5] [6] [8]

“I want the Japanese to know what they did to us. I want them to admit it. I am speaking for those who can’t.”[7]

  • Legal Action: In 1993, she joined a class-action lawsuit filed against the Japanese government by survivors from the Philippines, Korea, China, and the Netherlands. [3] [4] [5] [6]

  • Asian Women’s Fund: Rosa became one of the first recipients of symbolic reparations through the Asian Women’s Fund in 1996. [3] [4] [5] [6]

  • Global Recognition: She appeared before scholars, journalists, and international rights groups, marking the Philippines' entry into the global comfort women movement. [3] [4] [5] [6] [9]

  • Memoirs and Testimony: Her 1996 memoir Comfort Woman: Slave of Destiny and the 1999 book Comfort Woman: A Filipina’s Story of Prostitution and Slavery remain the only full-length autobiographies by a Filipina survivor. [3] [4] [5] [6] [9]

  • Educational Impact: Her story is now taught in classrooms and featured in human rights exhibitions across Southeast Asia, Canada, and Japan. [5] [6] [8] [9]

🕊️ LIFE AFTER THE WAR

  • Postwar Marriage and Abuse: Rosa married Domingo, a guerrilla commander. Soon after, he confined and raped her, a harrowing echo of her wartime captivity. [5]

  • Brief Hope: She recalled a fleeting moment of peace watching Domingo play guitar beside their daughters, thinking:

“Now I have a family of my own.”[5]

  • Abandonment and Entrapment: Domingo later left her. When she sought him out for their sick child, he had her detained by his men. Rosa relived her past trauma:

“Images of my captivity during the war flashed before my eyes.”[5]

  • Motherhood and Survival: Alone and pregnant with her third child, she returned to Manila, working over 30 years as a laundrywoman and factory sweeper to raise her family. [3] [4] [5]

  • Breaking the Silence: In 1992, Rosa publicly testified as the first Filipina former comfort woman. Her children learned of her past only then. [10] [2] [7]

  • Legacy and Death: She died on 18 August 1997 at age 69. Rosa is remembered today as a symbol of resilience, witness, and historical truth-telling. [4] [8] [9]

References

[1] Philippine Veterans Affairs Office – Maria Rosa Luna Henson Biography. https://pvao.gov.ph/pvao-gad-updates/maria-rosa-luna-henson/

[2] Asian Women’s Fund – Testimonies: Maria Rosa Luna Henson. https://www.awf.or.jp/e3/oralhistory-00.html

[3] Cabanes, M. – Comfort Woman: Slave of Destiny. https://doi.org/10.1177/09213740030153002

[4] Mendoza, Susanah L. – The Specter of Rosa Henson. https://doi.org/10.1353/gss.2017.0026

[5] Henson, Maria Rosa – Comfort Woman: A Filipina’s Story of Prostitution and Slavery Under the Japanese Military.

[6] Henson, Maria Rosa – Comfort Woman: Slave of Destiny.

[8] Through Her Story – María Rosa Luna Henson. https://www.throughherstory.com/maría-rosa-luna-henson

[9] Laban for the Lolas: Excerpt from Maria Rosa Henson’s Memoir. https://labanforthelolas.blogspot.com/2007/03/excerpt-from-maria-rosa-hensons.html

[10] “Maria Rosa Luna Henson: Woman of Courage.” Kasama, Solidarity Philippines Australia Network, Vol. 11, No. 3 (July–September 1997). https://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/1997/V11n3/Henson.htm




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