ASIA TIMES
Cristina Rosello Gates at her clinic in Quezon City, Philippines, with survivor Fidencia David recounting how her sisters in suffering died without seeing justice.
When I stand before thee at the day’s end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.
– Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Writer, Nobel Prize for Literature Winner, 1913.
Those who doubt angels of mercy exist among us should heed the heart-warming career of Cristina Rosello, a Filipina therapist who helps former “comfort women” forced into sexual slavery during World War 2 to balm their inner wounds. In this exclusive interview with Asia Times contributor Victor Fic, Rosello describes her creative methods and how she is both healer – and healed.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines, Rosello campaigned for the inclusion of gender justice and victims’ rights in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for the ratification of the ICC treaty in Southeast Asia and the Pacific states. She is an international affiliate of the American Psychological Association and the author of Disconnect: The Filipino Comfort Women [2].
Victor Fic: Cristina, the former “comfort women” suffered immense trauma. What enables you to help them?
Cristina Rosello: I’m a clinical psychologist with Lolas Kampanyera, a survivors’ group of Filpina ex-“comfort women”. I was born in the Philippines 10 years after the war so my childhood was filled with war stories. In 1996, I started to counsel Filipino “comfort women” and brought their voices to the ears of government delegations drafting the International Criminal Court statute against sexual slavery.
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