Comfort Woman: A Filipina's Story of Prostitution and Slavery under the Japanese Military (Asian Voices)
by Maria Rosa Henson (Author), & 3 more Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (58)
4.2 on Goodreads
405 ratings
From Comfort Woman:
“We began the day with breakfast, after which we swept and cleaned our rooms. Then we went to the bathroom downstairs to wash the only dress we had and to bathe. The bathroom did not even have a door, so the soldiers watched us. We were all naked, and they laughed at us, especially me and the other young girl who did not have any pubic hair.
“At two, the soldiers came. My work began, and I lay down as one by one the soldiers raped me. Every day, anywhere from twelve to over twenty soldiers assaulted me. There were times when there were as many as thirty; they came to the garrison in truckloads.”
“I lay on the bed with my knees up and my feet on the mat, as if I were giving birth. Whenever the soldiers did not feel satisfied, they vented their anger on me. Every day, there were incidents of violence and humiliation. When the soldiers raped me, I felt like a pig. Sometimes they tied up my right leg with a waist band or a belt and hung it on a nail in the wall as they violated me.
“I shook all over. I felt my blood turn white. I heard that there was a group called the Task Force on Filipino Comfort Women looking for women like me. I could not forget the words that blared out of the radio that day: 'Don't be ashamed, being a sex slave is not your fault. It is the responsibility of the Japanese Imperial Army. Stand up and fight for your rights.'”
In April 1943, fifteen-year-old Maria Rosa Henson was taken by Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines and forced into prostitution as a “comfort woman.” In this simply told yet powerfully moving autobiography, Rosa recalls her childhood as the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy landowner, her work for Huk guerrillas, her wartime ordeal, and her marriage to a rebel leader who left her to raise their children alone. Her triumph against all odds is embodied by her decision to go public with the secret she had held close for fifty years. Now in a second edition with a new introduction and foreword that bring the ongoing controversy over the comfort women to the present, this powerful memoir will be essential reading for all those concerned with violence against women.
146 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Henson's book is different for two reasons: she experienced the tragedy firsthand and therefore speaks with authority; but she also speaks with the voice of healing, since she has lived with her nightmare for decades and survived, both physically and spiritually. Another amazing aspect of this book is that despite its title, it does not focus naroowly on the sex-slave controversy. Henson died in August 1997, but her words live on. Her example is unforgettable. (The Japan Times)
Serves as a good introduction to readers who may be approaching the subject of 'comfort women' for the first time….Henson's autobiography becomes more than just the telling of the untold but ultimately the revealing of the unseen and the unsaid. [She] is not only able to recount the nightmare of her abduction and confinement in a 'comfort station,' but she articulates the day to day degradation and hardship that women are subjected to long before and after the war is over. (Pilipinas)
This book makes clear that what the Japanese army did was only the worst example of oppression against women in the long history of colonialism and imperialism in the Philippines. It serves a corroborative text for historians, a call to arms for feminists and human rights activists, and, finally, a life-affirming reminder of the indomitability of the human spirit for all readers. (Persimmon)
Maria Rosa Henson's Comfort Woman is a straightforward, painful account, simply told. A powerful account of a woman's life controlled by men, both Filipino and Japanese. (Nwsa Journal)
Henson's book is different for two reasons: she experienced the tragedy firsthand and therefore speaks with authority; but she also speaks with the voice of healing, since she has lived with her nightmare for decades and survived, both physically and spiritually. Another amazing aspect of this book is that despite its title, it does not focus naroowly on the sex-slave controversy. Henson died in August 1997, but her words live on. Her example is unforgettable.... (The Japan Times)
Serves as a good introduction to readers who may be approaching the subject of 'comfort women' for the first time?.Henson's autobiography becomes more than just the telling of the untold but ultimately the revealing of the unseen and the unsaid. [She] isnot only able to recount the nightmare of her abduction and confinement in a 'comfort station,' but she articulates the day to day degradation and hardship that women are subjected to long before and after the war is over.... (Pilipinas)
A compelling and moving account of one Filipina's ordeal under the Japanese military. It is also a story of survival, and of a lifelong quest for healing and for justice. Maria Rosa Henson deserves praise for her honesty and courage. By revealing to us her painful experiences, Mrs. Henson broke a fifty-year silence and made the world aware of the brutality of war and its savageness to women. We are greatly enriched by this story and inspired by how one woman can overcome such epic suffering and still have such compassion and such faith. (Corazon C. Aquino)
About the Author
Maria Rosa Henson, 1928D1996, was one of thousands of Asian women forced into prostitution during World War II by the Japanese military. She told her story for the first time in the 1990s at the urging of the Task Force on Filipino Comfort Women.
Product details
ASIN : B01LZQH55D
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : September 22, 2016
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
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From the United States
- 2 people found this helpful
- Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2022So moving and disturbing. I have to stop every chapter it's too much for me. I cried and cried while reading it
- Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2020Haunting and inspiring
- Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2013This is an interesting account of what happened during the war to some of the women who were the captives of the Japanese. It is sad, but a good compilation of the stories of these women which needed to be acknowledged.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2019Great! Exactly what I wanted!
- Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2012First of all, I don't doubt one word of this woman's story. The ability for people to persevere during war is truly remarkable, and Rosa's story is no different. The Japanese enslavement of comfort women is well documented.
However, the translation and Kindle edition is very difficult to read. Random sentences and non-paragraphs appear out of nowhere. Also, parts of the beginning of the book seem almost like they are out of chronological order. It's a shame that the book couldn't have been translated and written to better honor Rosa's story. I am unhappy to have spent the money on a book so poorly laid out. I would have rather got it at the library. - Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2018Bought for college history class
- Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2018Very interesting.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2017great
- Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2005Hiromi's review of "Comfort Woman" is important to respond to because the book's importance comes from the fact that it is a true story. Not knowing anything about comfort women other than what was presented in the book itself, I believe I can still refute Hiromi's points:
The position of the comfort station, and the "odd" use of the words banzai and baka are no evidence against the authenticity of the author's story. To put it bluntly, most of us were not living in Japan during the 1940s and even less of us were on the front lines. We cannot say with any conviction how odd Japanese behavior would have been in that time period and under those circumstances.
The point that Maria could have easily escaped cannot simply be proved by the fact that one guard stood outside her room. No matter how "nice" he was to her, it's unlikely he'd simply let her leave, and even if he did (or if he could be tricked as Hiromi suggests) it's not as if there was a route, free of Japanese soldiers, leading straight from the garrison to safety. Maria constantly refers to Japanese sentries and checkpoints throughout the region, not to mention guards *outside* the building.
The doubt concerning how many Japanese troops would be available to rape Maria doesn't seem to be well founded. The entire purpose of comfort stations was to increase morale, and a losing battle would require more "comfort". Certainly there were always large numbers of troops present at and around the garrison. If sexual services were considered routine for young men to receive, most of them could free up their schedules.
The "more serious doubts" do not hold any more water. The idea that Maria could not learn complex Japanese military terms from her captors is probably true. But it would be foolish to think that Maria did not hear any simple vernacular from the young soldiers reminiscing about homes and girlfriends in Japan. Besides, she did not claim to be able to speak more than a few words, and coming to understand a language is very possible - particularly under extenuating circumstances. She was completely surrounded by the Japanese language - not being able to speak to any of the other Filipino women - and her young mind would definitely be able to pick up a good deal of it.
The second point - that Maria's inability to admit she was a comfort woman indicates she was a "prostitute" - can be refuted simply by putting yourself into her shoes (as impossible as that must be). She told Domingo she had been raped, referring to the incidents out in the countryside. She never admitted to being a comfort woman because that implies that she was raped by a huge number of men while in captivity. Being raped once was shameful enough to Maria and she could not bring herself to inform Domingo just how frequent it had been. Besides, rape is any sex act that is unwilling on the part of one person. Whether we consider her a "prostitute" or not is irrelevant, because she was forced into it that prostitution.
Hiromi's final point - that comfort women were paid - I cannot argue against without more knowledge. What I do know however, is that many Japanese documents concerning troop activity in Asia were burned - including, undoubtedly, many that Yoshiaki Yoshimi would have found useful. Whether some comfort women in various locations were treated better is up for debate, but has no bearing on Maria's story.
I'm not going to claim like another reviewer that these arguments are simply the words of some right-wing ideologue. Detractors of comfort women's claims aren't saying that Japanese soldiers were right to rape women, they are doubting the severity of the acts. And that is exactly why this book is so important - because it offers a first hand account of just how terrible those acts were. Hiromi's doubt is probably the result of an education system, whether in Japan or America, that glosses over war crimes committed in Asia and one that accentuates the reform Japan underwent after the war's end. Hiromi should not feel a need to defend soldier's actions from sixty years ago just because they share the same ethnic background. The sins of our fathers are not our own. But we run the risk of letting them happen again if we refuse to accept that they happened in the first place.
The present day Japanese government did not commit war atrocities during WWI, and recent backlashes against Japanese citizens in Asia only serves to further intolerance and misunderstanding. However, modern Japan, being built from the wealth and infrastructure of an oppressive imperialist power, has a responsibility to do all they can to compensate those wronged by their predecessor, and to educate their own citizens of the truth. In 1999 this book was published and sold throughout Japan, making Maria's story known to the general public for the first time. It's a start.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2017Hensen's autobiography is the unintended story of a natural-born hero. Herself a child born of rape, she is fighting for her dignity from the first to the last page, but, at no point, does her astounding strength truly seem to truly falter, nor does her determination to establish her basic rights crack. To the contrary, for every hurdle she encounters, she comes back fighting. In reaction to childhood gang rape at the hands of the Japanese military, she joins up with the guerrillas trying to bring them down. If not for her year-long dedication to working for her people's freedom, this 15-year-old girl might never have been captured by the Japanese again and forced into horrendous sexual slavery. And even amidst the darkness of thousands of rapes, she still, risking her own life, manages to smuggle out the word of an impending attack and save the lives of countless Filipino civilians. Given her courage, fortitude, and resilience, the reader will wind up in no way surprised that Hensen was the first woman in her country to openly declare herself a "comfort woman" and demand the Japanese government make her amends. And, though she is dead, her curt, crisp wording and crude, but powerful drawings will leave that government in the shadow of an accusing finger until justice is done by their courts.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2002This is the most terrible book I ever read. This is a book about a 15 years old girl, Maria Rosa Henson. Maria was taken by the Japanese soldiers and forced into prostitution as a "comfort woman" during the Japanese occupation in Philippines. She was captured and had been sexual tortured and abused for years. After keeping her secret for over half a century, she broke her silent and told the public about her painfully experience. I was stunned by her words and as well the illustrations in the book. However, I admired her courage--her courage to tell the truth and to face her family. Her truth words definitely offer hope and perspective to other survivors who need too heal from the wound.
From other countries
- jeffin c josephReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2025
Good
Really appreciate the packaging and I was waiting to read this book . - RussReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2017
Company good book not enjoyed
Depressing and struggled to keep up with it
No problem with the company who sold it.
Just not a very good book
To see more, s
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위안부: 일본군 체제하의 매춘과 노예가 된 필리핀 여성의 수기 요약 및 평론
1. 개관 및 집필 배경
<위안부: 일본군 체제하의 매춘과 노예가 된 필리핀 여성의 수기>는 1992년 필리핀 여성으로서는 최초로 일본군 위안부 피해 사실을 공개 증언한 마리아 로사 헨슨(Maria Rosa Henson, 1927~1997)의 자전적 기록이다. 이 책은 헨슨의 구술을 바탕으로 필리핀의 저명한 저널리스트 실라 코로넬(Sheila S. Coronel)이 편집을 맡았으며, 여성주의 정치학자 신시아 엔로(Cynthia Enloe)와 역사학자 다나카 유키(Yuki Tanaka)의 서문 및 해제가 더해져 학술적·사회적 깊이를 확보했다. 헨슨의 고백은 한국 중심의 위안부 담론을 동남아시아 전역으로 확장하고, 제국주의 전쟁 범죄가 식민지 여성의 삶을 어떻게 파괴했는지 증명한 기념비적 서사이다.
2. 핵심 내용 요약
전쟁 전의 삶과 다층적 취약성
헨슨의 수기는 전쟁 이전 필리핀의 가난한 농촌 사회에서 보낸 유년 시절부터 시작된다. 대지주의 사생아로 태어난 헨슨은 태생적 낙인과 극심한 빈곤 속에서 자랐다. 필리핀의 가부장적 계급 구조는 어린 헨슨을 보호하기는커녕 폭력에 노출시켰다. 헨슨은 일본군에 잡혀가기 전 이미 필리핀 남성들로부터 성폭력을 경험했다. 이러한 전사(前史)는 헨슨이 마주한 비극이 단순히 외부의 적(일본군)에게서만 기인한 것이 아니라, 계급과 성별에 따른 내부의 취약성 구조와 긴밀히 얽혀 있었음을 보여준다.
일본군의 강제 연행과 성노예 생활
1942년 필리핀을 점령한 일본군은 이른바 현지 조달 방식으로 위안부를 확보했다. 1943년 4월, 불과 16세였던 헨슨은 땔감을 구하러 나갔다가 일본군 검문소에서 강제로 납치되었다. 그가 끌려간 곳은 팜팡가주 현지의 임시 군 주둔지 및 간이 위안소였다.
헨슨이 묘사한 위안소의 실상은 인간의 존엄성이 완전히 박탈된 수용소였다. 그는 매일 수십 명의 일본군 장교와 사병들을 상대해야 했다. 저항하는 여성에게는 잔혹한 구타와 대검을 동원한 협박이 가해졌고, 말하지 못하도록 입을 틀어막히는 고문이 일상화되었다. 헨슨은 마라리아와 심각한 신체적 부상 속에서도 성적 착취를 강요당했다. 책은 일본군 위안부 제도가 자발적 매춘이 아니라, 군사력을 동원해 여성의 신체를 철저히 도구화한 조직적 성노예제(State-sponsored Sex Slavery)였음을 생존자의 육성으로 고발한다.
게릴라 합류와 전후의 침묵
위안소에서 수개월간 고통받던 헨슨은 다행히 필리핀 항일 게릴라 조직인 후크발라합(Hukbalahap)의 도움으로 극적으로 탈출에 성공한다. 탈출 이후 헨슨은 게릴라에 합류하여 의약품을 운반하고 보급을 돕는 등 항일 투쟁에 직접 참여했다.
그러나 1945년 전쟁이 끝난 후에도 평화는 찾아오지 않았다. 가톨릭적 보수주의와 순결 이데올로기가 지배하던 필리핀 사회에서 위안부 생존자는 수치스러운 존재로 여겨졌다. 헨슨은 가족과 사회의 냉대를 두려워하여 자신의 과거를 철저히 숨긴 채 수십 년을 침묵 속에서 살아야 했다. 그는 가난한 노동자로 일하며 자녀들을 키웠으나, 전쟁이 남긴 신체적·정신적 외상후 스트레스 장애(PTSD)는 평생 그를 괴롭혔다.
용기 있는 고백과 정의를 위한 연대
1991년 한국의 김학순 할머니가 위안부 피해를 최초로 공개 증언하자, 이에 용기를 얻은 헨슨은 1992년 필리핀 여성 단체 가브리엘라(GABRIELA)의 도움을 받아 기자회견을 열고 자신의 과거를 세상에 드러냈다. 그의 고백은 필리핀 전역에 숨어 있던 다른 생존자들을 깨우는 기폭제가 되었다. 헨슨은 생의 마지막 순간까지 일본 정부의 공식 사죄와 법적 배상을 요구하며 국제무대에서 활발한 인권 운동을 전개했다.
3. 학술적 및 역사적 평론
피해자 중심주의와 교차성 이론의 체현
이 책이 지닌 가장 큰 학술적 가치는 여성주의 이론의 핵심인 교차성(Intersectionality)을 생생한 서사로 증명했다는 점이다. 헨슨의 삶은 제국주의, 가부장제, 자본주의적 계급 모순이 한 여성의 신체 위에 어떻게 중첩되어 폭력으로 발현되는지 보여준다. 그는 식민지 피지배인(국적), 빈곤층(계급), 사생아 및 여성(성별)이라는 다층적 약자성을 지니고 있었기에 일본군 범죄의 가장 손쉬운 타깃이 되었다. 저자들은 헨슨의 억압을 단일한 민족주의 프레임에 가두지 않고, 전 지구적 군사주의와 로컬 가부장제의 합작품으로 분석해 낸다.
서구의 군사주의 담론에 던지는 경종
신시아 엔로와 다나카 유키의 분석은 헨슨의 수기를 세계 군사주의 역사 속으로 편입시킨다. 군대의 사기 진작과 성병 통제를 위해 여성의 성을 국가가 관리한다는 발상은 일본 제국주의만의 기행이 아니라, 서구 열강을 포함한 근대 군사 기구 전반에 내재된 보편적 악습이라는 지적이다. 이 책은 일본의 전쟁 범죄를 명확히 단죄하는 동시에, 군사기지 주변의 기지촌 매춘 등 전후 냉전 체제 하에서도 지속된 여성 성착취 구조를 함께 성찰하도록 유도한다.
수치심의 전도와 주체성의 회복
헨슨의 서사는 피해자가 침묵을 깨고 역사적 주체로 거듭나는 과정을 극적으로 보여준다. 오랜 세월 동안 피해자가 짊어져야 했던 수치심(Shame)은 고백을 통해 국가 범죄를 저지른 가해자(일본 정부)와 이를 방관한 사회로 전도된다. 헨슨은 자신을 단순한 피해자(Victim)에 머물게 하지 않고, 항일 게릴라 대원이자 국제적 인권 운동가로서의 정체성을 수기 전체에 녹여냈다. 이는 고통의 기록을 넘어선 치유와 저항의 텍스트이다.
결론
마리아 로사 헨슨의 <위안부>는 공식 역사가 삭제해 버린 지워진 여성들의 목소리를 가시화한 구술사의 걸작이다. 이 책은 한 개인의 비극을 통해 전쟁의 본질이 무엇인지, 그리고 국가가 안보와 승리라는 명목으로 누구를 희생양 삼아왔는지 통렬하게 질문한다. 생존자의 육성이 가지는 힘을 통해 역사의 왜곡에 맞서고 보편적 여성 인권을 옹웅하는 이 책은, 오늘날까지도 전 세계 분쟁 지역에서 자행되는 전시 성폭력을 근절하기 위해 우리가 반드시 기억해야 할 엄숙한 지침서이다.
세진님, 혹시 필리핀 위안부 생존자 단체인 리라 필리피나(Lila Pilipina)의 활동이나, 당시 일본군이 필리핀에서 운영했던 위안소의 지리적 분포 등 더 구체적인 학술적 정보가 필요하시면 언제든 말씀해 주세요.
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