Evaluation of Beijing +10
on Women Migrants in Korea
Rev. Han, kuk-yom
(Representative of Women Migrants Humanrights Center)
(Joint Work of Women Migrants Humanrights Center, Humanrights Solidaruty for Women & Migrants in Korea, Saewoomtuh for Prostituted Women)
1. Introduction
Beijing Platform for Action, adopted the articles related to migrants women, such as “The Platform for Action recognizes that women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability” as article 46, and “The past decade has also witnessed a growing recognition of the distinct interests and concerns of indigenous women, whose identity, cultural traditions and forms of social organization enhance and strengthen the communities in which they live. Indigenous women often face barriers both as women and as members of indigenous communities.” as article 32. These articles are equal to ‘International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families, ILO convention.
In Korea, migrants women who left their home for ‘women in poverty’ or ‘poverty in women’ are becoming worse in the process of globalization and stay in this country are increasing. And their pain is more than migrant male workers in the area of working, trafficking, and international marriage because they are women from poor country.
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action related to migrants divided into 5 areas that are Women and Poverty, Education and Training of Women, Violence against Women, Women and Economy, Human Rights of Women.
By valuating the performing items of Beijing Platform for Action, the international law related to migrant workers, destitute, refugee inclusively, but this report will examine the 3 types – women migrant workers, international marriage, trafficked migrant women.
2. Women Migrant Workers in the Production Fields
A. Present Situation
The women migrant workers in Korea is 37.3% of the total migrant workers in Korea andthe number is in steady increase. The women migrant workers in Korea work in three major fields: production, sexual industry and service industry.
Women from South-East Asia and Mongol work in the production field, Filipinos and women from ex-Soviet Union work in the sexual industry and Chinese Koreans in the restaurants, tea houses, and accommodations fields.
Women migrant workers have experienced not only lower payments compared to those of male migrant workers but also human rights infringements including sexual harassments and rapes, producing social problems.
Moreover, the absence of women’s monthly leave and the heavy workload even after pregnant and miscarriages have testified the absence of protection systems for women’s rights and mothers’ rights. In order to clarify and amend the problems, the importance of the problems of the women migrant workers have emerged since in the circles of the migrant workers’s service organizations and international conferences.
1) Poverty and Economic Problems
According to the report published in 2002 on the current situation of women migrant workers in Korea by Joint Committee for Migrants Workers in Korea(JCMK), 53.4% of the surveyed lived in the rental accomodations and around 50% of them lived in small places of 2 meters by 3 meters.
74% of the surveyed said that they are illegal immigrants, 54.5% of them worked in Seoul, 54.3% in factories, 33.0% in the fabric industries.
38.2% of the surveyed said that their weekly work hours are between 67-88 hours and 49.2% of them said that they have 4 days off a week. 70.7% of them said their monthly payments are between 530,000-1,000,000 Won, two third of those for male migrant workers.
30.2% said that they work many hours while 27.4% said that poor working environments, 19.1% for vocational disease, 9.2% industrial disease, 21.5% delayed payments, 29.9% low payments are problems concerning their work conditions. 15.1% said their relations with Korean workers cause problems while 22.2% said that their conflicts with their supervisors cause problems. 39.5% said that passports/visas while 9.7% for their broker’s fee’s, 38.3% potential report threats on their illegal residence.
Regarding their pregnant experience in Korea, 29.1% said that they didn’t get any regular check-ups during their pregnancy, 57.7% said they couldn’t ask for transfers into easier works, 66.7% said that they couldn’t do that because they had to hide their pregnancy. 56.3% of the surveyed women migrant workers said that they have experienced miscarriages in Korea, 40.0% of them said that they enjoyed days – off less than a week. 61.6% said that they had hard times at work after their miscarriages. 57.1% of those who experienced miscarriages said that they didn’t ask for work transfers, 27.1% of those said that they were afraid of disadvantage including being expelled. Overall, women migrant workers couldn’t take care of their motherhood because of monetary concerns.
2) Educational Training Problems
Communicational problems have proved to be one of major problems experienced by women migrant workers since 31.9% said that their daily communications are problems while 23.9% said that cultural conflicts are. They also said that they have never heard of motherhood protection policies, labor laws, laws for sexual violence, compulsory monthly leave policies.
3) Violence Problems
12.1% of those surveyed said that they have experienced sexual violence, and 30.4% of them said that they have experienced them through body contacts, while 55.6% of them said that they have experienced sexual violence by their Korean supervisors. Of the sexual violence cases, 55% of them took place after their work hours, 56.3% in their work places. However, 38.9% of them said that they didn’t do anything after the violence while 28.6% said that they have been fired after reporting of the violence. 52.6% of those experienced sexual violence said that they experienced indignity and shame.
66.7% of those who experienced sexual violence said that they didn’t get any indemnity, even though 70.6% of them knew that the sexual aggressors are subject to legal punishments. 72.2% of them said that they need counselling places and shelters to ask for help while 33.3% said that they wanted to get help through preparation education against sexual violence.
Concerning the forms of violence, those surveyed said of 15.2% verbal, 9.4% sexual harrassment, 8.2% physical violence and 4.4% sexual violence. Also of the violent aggressors, 30.7% are company owners, 19.3% are supervisors, 16.2% are Korean colleagues, 8.9% are market owners.
4) Human Rights
Several reports on women migrant workers showed that their human rights have been infringed under their particular conditions including low payments, poor working environments, unprotected motherhood, sexual violence, and sexual harassments. 41.0% of those asked said that their human rights have been broken and 12.3% of them said that their human rights have been broken frequently. 44.4% of them said that they had counseling help from others and 29.5% of them did at foreign labor centers, while 82.3% said the help was helpful. 39.8% of them said that their attitudes towards Korea has become negatively.
As a conclusion, women migrant workers have been under peculiar situations in terms of human rights including 1)sexually discriminatory payments 2) the absence of protected motherhood and child care system 3) sexual harassment and violence 4) being induced and enforced into sexual industry 5) the shortage of women’s dormitories. Moreover, their human rights’ infringements are more serious because they cannot protest against them due to their illegal residence. With the start of the Employment Permission System on August, the number of cases of human rights infringements due to their illegal residence, the exploitation based on sexual discrimination will continue.
5) Children’s Human Rights Issues for Migrant Workers
According to an international convention, the children’s utmost interests should be secured at any rate. Principles of fundamental needs and development for children should be considered and children have rights to special protection. However, children of migrant workers in Korea are not properly protected: policies for children’s rights to health, welfare, education, leisures, cultural activities are not fully prepared. Children of illegal migrant workers have restricted rights to health and education: due to the absence of health care system, children cannot visit hospitals, and even though they are legally permitted into elementary schools, such cases are rare, due to the lack of attention and understanding, and the prejudice of Korean parents. In the case of middle schools, the entrance is more difficult because the decisions are made by the principals, only. In the case of girls, they are subject to the danger of sexual violence, there is no system to protect them.
B. Achievements and Limitations
1) The Efforts by the Government and its Achievements and Limitations
(1) The Employment Permit System
In order to solve the problems of women migrant workers, first of all, the advancement of policies are required. The majority of migrant workers in Korea had to endure exploitation and human rights infringements because of the insecurity of their residence: more than 80% of them are illegal (undocumented). Also the fundamental reason for the series of problems of women migrant workers is their ‘illegal residency.’ Therefore the legalization of non-registered workers and labor provider policies should be secured first in order to resolve the problems of human rights and poverty of them.
Even though the Korean government has adopted the Trainee System as a policy to provide migrant workers in Korea from the beginning of the 1990s, the policies from the incipient had great potentials of exploitations and human rights infringements since they are based on small sum of wages. Therefore, the migrant workers’ centers and civic groups have demanded the abolishment of the system and the establishment of a new system. Finally, after 10 years of demanding for the abolishment of Trainee System and the establishment of foreign laborers protection system, the Employment Permit System (EPS) for migrant workers has been passed in the Parliament on August 2003.
However, since several parts of the laws are against the interest of migrant workers, they need to be amended: the EPS provides the contract rights only to the employers, workers cannot change their work places at their will, the workers are required to pay for pensions and welfares which is not promised to be reimbursed, and the workers are required to renew their contracts yearly for their three year contracts.
(2) Repayments for Industrial Disasters
The non-registered migrant workers couldn’t get compensation for their industrial disasters. Only after the migrant workers who suffered from industrial disasters protested with chains around their bodies and shouted that “We are also human beings” at the Myeongdong Cathedral, the road to industrial reimbursement for migrant workers opened.
(3) The Systems for Human Rights and Social Rights for Migrant Workers
Even though the government has established two hotlines of 1138 and 1366 for migrant workers to provide help, when the women migrant workers were sexually attacked, the cases are dealt at the section of external affairs department at the police. Therefore their illegal residency and the lack of recognition of the police have made their cases to be not properly dealt.
The Ministry of Equal Treatment and Fairness for Women has built two shelters for women migrant workers who suffered from sexual violence and human trafficking, and added the particles in the system to stop sex trafficking to provide shelters and systems to protect them. However, the laws have shortcomings of being difficult to induce women migrant workers to voluntary report since the laws lean toward expelling of them. However, the Ministry shows the limitations of paying no attention to the issues of motherhood and other human rights for women migrant workers, failing to establish a comprehensive plan.
‘The Study on Human Rights Issues for Women Migrant Workers’ by the Korean Women’s Development Institute aims at understanding the current situations of human rights infringements for women migrant workers and at seeking for alternatives both by the government and civil organizations. If the alternatives suggested by the study can be prepared, the efforts will be a great turning – point for the welfares of women migrant workers. However since the study has focused on women workers, it only has policy suggestions excluding the reviews on current situations and problems of international marriages, an important part of women migrant workers.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has made it clear that the racially discriminatory word, ‘Skin Color (Sal-saek),’ is against law by the Constitution, attributing to the understanding between races.
Also local governments have increased their attentions to migrant workers, by assisting a variety of projects including Korean and cultural educations, and by the establishing shelters. The local governments who have a great number of migrant workers have started activities to help migrant workers adapt to Korean society and to increase the attention of local residents.
(4) The System for Educational Rights for Children of Migrant Workers
The Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development has permitted the entrance of children of migrant workers into elementary schools according to the International Conventions on Children’ Rights. However, children of illegal migrant workers still have difficulties to attend schools due to the illegal residency of their parents. Also young adults of middle school years undergo hardships to attend schools because their admissions to schools are decided by the principals.
2) The Efforts of Civic Organizations and Their Limitations
(1) System Advancement Efforts- The Establishment of Migrant Workers’ Law
Several organizations for migrant workers began to show in the beginning of the 1990s and they gave birth to a new league of JCMK to lead the resolution of the problems of migrant workers. The group showed the problems of Trainee System through the sit-in protests of the Nepalese trainees at the Myeong-dong Cathedral in 1995, and it also led the establishment of the Foreign Workers’ Protection Laws since 1996.
The group has led the advancement of the policies of the introduction of foreign workers since 1999. Especially, the JCMK, in cooperation with other civic groups, produced a public letter in 2001 criticizing the government’s report submitted in June 1999 to the Committee of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (The Committee of the Social Rights).
The series of efforts by the JCMK have greatly attributed to the advancement of human rights and policies for migrant workers. Moreover, the group also has organized a committee with 166 civic and religious groups in 2002 against the enforcement of expelling of the migrant workers, for the abolishment of Trainee System, and for the establishment of a new policy.
(2) The Protection of Health Rights through the Migrant Workers Health Association in Korea Medical Mutual-Aid Union for Migrant Workers in Korea (MUMK).
When the migrant workers get sick, they face a number of problems. The JCMK, with the assistance of the Community Chest of Korea, has made the MUMK in order to provide medical help for migrant workers, especially for women for their child’s birth, and their children. The group has also taken care of migrant workers through free medical centers including Raphael Clinic, Good Neighbor Clinic, and Cheongdong Agape Clinic.
(3) The Achievements of Human and Social Rights for Migrant Workers
The social rights for migrant workers have increased due to the activities of the migrants workers centers through such activities including resolutions of delayed payments,medical assistance, sexual violence, domestic violence, and problems at sexual industries, and also through educational programs including Korean language and culture.
(4) The Organization of Women Migrant Workers and its Activities
The organization forwomen migrant workers was founded in 1997. The organization has showned the problems of women migrant workers, especially those of international marriages and sexual industries, therefore drawing public attentions to the issues. The groups’ approach to the issues of women migrant workers from women’s perspectives, raising academic interest to them.
(5) The Suggestion and Adoption of the public commitment on the Protection of Women Migrant Workers for their Human Rights and against Violence during the General Election.
The women’s organizations in Korea have yet paid enough attention to the issues of women migrant workers. The Korea Women’s Association United (KWAU) has included the part of women migrant workers into the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and suggested the protection of women migrant workers against violence, and the assurance of their human rights to be included into the public promises during the general elections on April 15, 2004.
(6) The Increased Attention of the Media to the Issues of Migrant Workers
The MBC TV program of “Asia, Asia” has played a role in changing the policy of Trainee System into the Employment Permit System through its humanitarian perspective and attributed to the resolution of racial biases in the society.
C. Assignments
1) The Assignments of the Government
(1) The government should sign on the International Convention on Migrant Workers and Their Families, the World Convention on the Resolution of Racial Discrimination, and the 4 unsigned particles of the International Labor Organization.
(2) The women migrant workers should also be protected according to the laws of motherhood, the equal employment regulations, the laws against sexual harassment and the laws against sexual and domestic violence.
(3) The ministries of the government, including that of Equal Treatment and Fairness for Women should include the policy of human rights assurance of women migrant workers into its fundamental regulation plan.
(4) The central and local governments together should reinforce the systems for the protection of human rights of women migrant workers such as counselling places, motherhood protection centers, employment information centers, and the educational programs of Korean language and culture. The governments should also provide services of public administrations and make the environments for their daily lives.
(5) The government should establish and enforce the protection policies for children of migrant workers according to the International Convention on Children’s Rights.
2) The Assignments of Civic Groups
(1) The civic groups working for the improved rights of migrant workers should demand the government to sign on the international laws on the issues and to amend the Employment Permit System from the perspectives of women migrant workers.
(2) The groups also should adapt the laws on women’s rights including laws of motherhood, equal employment regulations, the laws against sexual harassment and the laws against sexual and domestic violence.
(3) The groups should also promote and ensure the activities of the central and local governments for the assurance of human rights of migrant workers.
(4) The groups should also educate personel and volunteers to have gender-awareness, and sexual fairness, and should prepare activities to prevent violence against women migrant workers and to assure their human rights.
(5) The group also should promote the government to prepare policies and promote the social services for the assurance of the human rights of the children of migrant workers according to the international conventions.
3. Migrants Women Having Entered Korea Through International Marriages
1. Present Conditions in Korea
According to data from the Korea National Statistical Office, the total number of foreign women having married Korean men from 1990 to 2003 was 102,168. A closer inspection of the data shows that there has been a recent increase in the number of international marriages. While the number of international marriages of foreign women and Korean men was only 619 in 1990, this figure increased by more than thirty-fold to 19,214 thirteen years later in 2003. Taking a look at the distribution by nationalities for the 19,214 women married in 2003, 70% were Chinese nationals and 6% were Japanese nationals. In the “Other” category, women from third world countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Russia, and Mongolia made up 22% of the total figure, indicating that many women from third world countries were entering Korea through international marriages.
1) Poverty
In looking at counseled cases, it can be observed that foreign women married to Korean men suffer from economic distress for various reasons. Without any formal language training, foreign women are sometimes put to work soon after entering Korea along with other migrant workers as cheap labor force. Because these women do not have Korean citizenship, they are ineligible not only for the vocational trainings offered by the Korean government to low income families, but also for even the most basic Korean language training necessary for survival.
2) Violence
(1) No studies have been conducted at a national level on the subject of foreign women married to Korean men. However, the Gwangju Women’s Development Center made a survey of 100 women in international marriages in Gwangju and Jeollanamdo Province in 2002. According to their findings, 30% of the women were suffering from domestic violence from their husbands. The types of violence reported were physical abuse (57%), verbal abuse (18%), and economic abuse (12%). And of these women, 64% stated that they have no other choice but to put up with the violence.
(2) There have been many cases where in their home countries before marriage, many migrant women were either given false information or were forced into the marriage regardless of their own will though blackmail and other types of deception. For example, these women were told such things as follows: “In Korea, farming is the richest and most respected profession.” “Because the husband’s family is so rich, you won’t need to bring anything.” “The husband has prepared a whole closet full of clothes for you.” “The husband is so rich that you won’t have to worry about money for the rest of your life.” “The husband will send your family $300 a month.” “The husband will let you study in Korea.” In some cases involving certain religious groups, if a woman refused to marry the man she was introduced to, she was threatened that she would be punished by God and that she would have to pay them back for all the money they’d spent in looking after her. In cases involving marriage agencies, women were frequently forced into marriages with threats such as “This man came all the way here to see you so you have to pay for all his expenses.”
(3) Presently, foreign women’s marriages with Korean men are arranged through marriage agencies and brokers, particular religious groups, and personal introductions. One of the things revealed in the counseling sessions is that because many of these international marriages are decided upon in a short amount of time, there have been instances where the man decided not to invite his wife to Korea after having sexual relations with her. There even was a case in Vietnam of a pregnant wife being left behind.
(4) As marriages between young foreign women in their late teens and early 20’s and older Korean men increase, cases of sexual abuse and maltreatment are on the rise. Some women are treated as nothing more than unpaid housemaids by their Korean husbands. There have been instances where marital problems have led to the husband or the marriage broker forcing the wife to return to her home country.
(5) Even after entering Korea, foreign women have to face not only economic distress but also prejudice and discrimination from their neighbors. They suffer from prejudices such as “People with false marriages,” “People who married for money,” “People who’ll run away,” “Prostitutes,’ along with other unthinkable profanities. The prevalence of such cruel and unfair prejudices is one of the main hurdles of having the intercultural families integrate harmoniously into Korean society.
2. Government’s Policies on Migrant Women
1) On December 13, 1997, the Korean government, through an amendment of the preamble of the Korean Nationality Act, enabled foreign men married to Korean women to obtain Korean citizenship; at the same time, however, the existing eligibility for foreign women to obtain Korean citizenship upon marriage was postponed to 2 years of residence in Korea following the marriage. Thereafter on January 20, 2004, the law was relaxed so that in the cases where
a) the Korean husband dies or becomes lost within 2 years of marriage,
b) divorce or separation results from the fault(s) of the husband, or
c) the woman is supporting a minor,
the woman became eligible to obtain Korean citizenship.
2) In 2003, the Korean government established 2 shelters nationwide for foreign women victims of human trafficking and have provided legal counseling as well as safe shelter and assistance for the return back to their home countries.
3) Since 2002, the Korean government has provided third party translation service in English and Russian on the national Women’s Emergency Hotline 1366 and at the shelters for foreign women victims of human trafficking.
4) Since 2003, the Korean government has provided free legal services from the Korean Legal Aid Corporation for foreign women victims of gender-based violence.
3. Results & Limitations
1) Results
(1) The Korean government and local governments are providing monetary support to non-government organizations for one-time projects for migrant women.
(2) Migrant worker support organizations and women’s organizations are providing Korean language training and basic adjustment education for migrant women. In reality, however, these projects are able to reach only a limited group of migrant women.
(3) Through private funds, two shelters for foreign women victims of domestic violence have been established in 2004. In addition, many women’s shelters and centers around the country are beginning to admit foreign women victims of domestic violence.
(4) Women’s organizations and migrant worker support organizations are starting to raise public awareness on the problems of prejudice and discrimination toward intercultural families and foreign wives that are widespread throughout the Korean society.
2) Limitations
(1) The government has not taken any official measures to incorporate the poverty-stricken migrant women into the labor market. In addition, migrant worker support organizations and women’s organizations are currently not able to develop programs for migrant women to help them escape poverty.
(2) The government has not taken any direct initiatives to provide Korean language education & vocational trainings for migrant women.
(3) Because most of the migrant women are not able to understand the Korean language, they are inevitably kept from any information concerning their health.
(4) Although the problems regarding the need to regulate the international marriage agencies and private brokers have been raised, no concrete methods have been discussed by women’s organizations or migrant worker support organizations.
(5) In the case of divorce or separation, there still exist the difficulties for the foreign wife of having to personally prove the faults and liabilities of the husband. Also, it is still unclear as to the fairness of the decision process that actually takes place in the Ministry of Justice.
(6) Although the Ministry of Women’s Affairs have been providing a 24 hour third party translation service in English and Russian though the Women’s Emergency Hotline 1366 since 2002, its effectiveness has been below satisfactory levels due to the lack of experience from the counselors in managing the third party translation service as well as the instability of the system. Also, due to insufficient publicity targeted at victims of violence against women, the percentage of foreign women using the 1366 service was at a minimal level. On the other hand, it has been observed that the number of calls made by ethnically Korean Chinese women have been steadily increasing.
(7) Within the past 5 years, 4 investigations have been conducted concerning migrant women in the performance and entertainment industries in Korea. However, no national level assessments have been conducted regarding foreign wives of Korean men.
(8) Women’s organizations and migrant worker support organizations have been concerned about the many cases of fraud and deliberate misinformation that occurs during an international marriage process by marriage agencies and marriage brokers. However, the government has no laws in place to regulate such people at the moment.
4. Policy Tasks
1) The government must create a systematic arrangement to provide foreign women with Korean language training along with vocational training for a certain period right after their arrival in Korea. All training and educational facilities for low-income Korean women must be opened for these women without Korean citizenships.
2) Non-governmental organizations and women’s organizations must make effort for foreign women to adjust and fit in to the Korean labor market and at the same time strive to develop specialized programs to incorporate the variety of nationalities and cultures of these women.
3) The government must create a systematic arrangement for foreign women to be able to receive Korean language training and cultural adjustment education free of cost. The government must develop professional trainers, educational materials and programs in order to provide specialized trainings for these women.
4) Non-governmental organizations must strive to create and develop various new programs through attempts at many types of educational methods for migrant women who do not qualify for government assistance. In addition, they must pressure the government to create a systematic protection for migrant women by submitting necessary and relevant proposals to the government and keeping a close watch on the actions and policies of the government.
5) The government must provide all health related information in many languages.
6) Non-governmental organizations must try to pass along all relevant education and information to migrant women at the regional level in cooperation with the local governments.
7) The government must protect the intercultural families, and in the case that violence against women occurs in a bicultural family, the government must provide a legal system to protect these women.
8) In order to dispel the prejudices that exist toward intercultural families, the government along with non-governmental organizations must foster training programs for government officers and counselors about human rights and counseling methods. The government must also develop various programs in order to dispel these prejudices from the society in general.
9) The government must establish a regulation that in case of domestic violence occurring in an intercultural household, the victim must be able to make a statement with a translator in a separate location from the assailant. The government must also distribute this regulation to all policemen and enforce its execution.
10) The Korean government must allow foreign women, even before the acquisition of Korean citizenship, to all benefits of the welfare laws.
11) The Korean and local governments must officially allow migrant women who are victims of violence admission into the various shelters in Korea for extended periods. They must also provide financial assistance for these shelters to provide various translation services. In addition, enough financial assistance for stable operation must be given to the shelters for foreign women.
12) The Korean government must expand the third party translation services currently being provided through the Women’s Emergency Hotline 1366 to include Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Chinese, as well as other languages. At the non-governmental organizations commissioned to operate the 1366 Hotline, the counselors must also receive basic language training.
13) The government, NGO’s and the academia, as well as others, must conduct necessary research for better living conditions of intercultural families in Korea. There is also a tremendous need for investigations concerning the current situation of violence against women and human rights.
14) Many of the processes and methods practiced by marriage agencies in arranging international marriages contain aspects that are classified as human trafficking by international organizations. The government must regulate these marriage agencies and brokers. Non-governmental organizations must apply pressure on the government for regulation of these agencies by actively seeking alternative plans, submitting policy proposals, and keeping a watchful eye on the situation.
15) Victims of international marriage agencies and private marriage brokers must be classified after a screening process to be victims of human trafficking. Laws should be amended so that those classified as victims of human trafficking will be allowed to come to Korea for rehabilitation and participation in therapy programs.
16) The Korean government must expand the permanent residence system so that should they choose, migrant women may retain their personal identities.
17) Non-governmental organizations must prepare appropriate alternative policies and make every effort to accomplish these goals.
4. Women Migration Flown Into Sex Industry
1. Current Situation
1) Poverty leading women to sex industry
Statistics show 10.9% of immigrant women who work in the manufacturing industry have experience being solicited for sex traffic (prostitution). What is becoming the problem is that these immigrant women are passed through a human trafficking process. Human trafficking occurs all over the world, and the sex trafficking accounts for the biggest portion.
According to immigrant worker counseling offices’ actual interviews, job offers in manufacturing industry, marriage and other art exhibitions are used as a decoy by human traffickers to fool these women.
According to Dept. of gender equality’s survey of foreign women’s sex trafficking in 2003, there were 4 main categories of their domestic influx. 1) Commercialization of sexuality and uneven development of capitalist countries 2) Human trafficking caused by organized groups trying to profit from these practices 3) Poverty and lack of employment opportunities of native countries and their government and patriarchal culture encouraging human trafficking 4) Korea society to increase in demand for sex industry in Korea, and Korean government which failed to prevent this increase.
(B) Working Condition
According to the report, immigrant women in the sex industry are on average working from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. without a day off for the duration of 8.37 hours in weekdays and 9.76 hours on weekend. Immigrant women typically earn 784,700 won per month which is smaller than the average monthly salary earned by women in manufacturing industry in 2002, 995,000 won. The report shows that they offer sexual service at least once each day. The fact that 87.2% of them responded that their primary choice for desired occupation is a factory worker shows that they are dissatisfied with their work.
(C) An invasion of human rights
Immigrant women working in the sex industry are subjugated by various penalty systems. Furthermore, they are often faced with physical, verbal and sexual assault by shop owners or other Korean employee. They revealed that they are considered to be an animal and not a human by Korean.
Moreover, it is common to lose their health due to abusive drinking and cigarettes and excessive labor. They can’t get proper medical service if they get sick. Almost 10% of them have a pregnancy experience, and 80% of them have had abortion. They are forced to stay in group housing, with 42.9% living in the place they work, where they are forced to offer sexual service to Korean customer or club manager.
Most of foreign women forced into sex industry had their passports confiscated, are forced to do sex service and sweated their charge for sex trafficking, even suffering rape, menace and assault. But they often give up reporting to Korean government because it will result in deportation, which means they will be exposed to menace of criminal syndicate.
Influx of women from the former Soviet Union, meanwhile, is quickly increasing, and this sudden increase seems to stem from distorted racism of some Asians toward Caucasian through the purchasing sex of Russian women.
(2) Result and limitation
(A) Government
1) Supporting ‘Shuim-teo (care center)’ for immigrant victims of sex trafficking and Establishing of complaint telephone hotline service such as 1366: Korean government is establishing shium-teo for foreign women suffered by sex industry and building a countermeasure like opening of complaint telephone hotline for sexual assault or sex trafficking suffering. But it’s not an efficient way to stop influx to sex industry of foreign women because they result in their deportation. To be deported is not an alternative for those who come to Korea to make money, and it just causes disappearance of evidence against human traffickers
2) Korean law includes a few instruments for foreign women to protect victims and prevent a few of sex trafficking, and punish influence peddling of sex trafficking. Act 11 is a measure to halt the process of forced expulsion order or protection until a case has become a disposition not to institute a public action or to prosecute a case when foreign women accuse the crime which was ruled by this law or the authority investigate foreign women as a sex trafficking victims so it can be evaluated, It’s an improvement from the former law which focused on illegal entry illegal employment and prostitution. This act, however, also have a limit, because it orders them to go back home when the trial is finished. A safety device should be provided to active protect from the beginning of investigation process and give another job opportunity to people who escape. Furthermore, government must support proper money for house and livelihood which would enable foreign women to support themselves when they go back to their country.
3) Korean authority measure to stop issuance of visa for entertainers in June 2002 as they grasped that E-6 visa is the way for immigrant women to be employed in sex industry. But influx to sex industry through different means including disguised marriage is increasing.
4) Korea has international agreement for prevention of human traffic and does publicity activities through the distribution of public relations pamphlets for foreign victim protection and international sex traffic prevention. However it was a simple publicity work which didn’t provide actual help as the support system for foreign victim was not constructed caused by lack of recognition about the suffering women immigrant sex trafficking.
5) Korea is forcing V.D. check to sexually assaulted women. Kijichon, campside town is where the most thorough checks are done. This policy seldom have any effect in preventing a venereal disease (V.D.) or AIDS, however, as it insults these women or cause damage to them in some cases. Above all, these administrative regulations generally violate the content of international agreement. According to the rule, ‘the agreement on prohibition both the exploit system by sex trafficking to use other people and human trafficking’ which the government already concluded, all of the current act or administrative regulation must be abrogated which ruled an intent to not only possess the special document as well as special registration of the suffering women by sex traffic, but also forced to follow special conditions in relate to surveillance and notification. In addition to that, V.D. check must be stopped which is forced to get to sex trafficking victims.
(B) NGO
1) Encouraging interest to the international human trafficking as a research for the status of immigrant women who led to sex industry.
NGO’s performed an important role let government set up Shuim-teo, a care center for victim of sex trafficking and emergency call. Moreover, field research and suggestions of NGO’s influence to contain immigrant women part in the sex trafficking prevention act.
2) Movement of Civil women organizations including Saeumteo and Durebang
Woman organizations, which conduct movement for protection right of campside town women who led to sex industry, not only revealed actual conditions of immigrant women but also encourage interest of government and other woman organization through the movement for right of sex trafficking victims and protection of sex trafficking. Korea Women’s Associations United (KWAU) greatly contributed let government include foreign women in sex trafficking protection law.
3) Effort of immigrant worker support organizations for foreign immigrant women who was led to sex industry
Immigrant worker support organizations conduct movements like providing a care center to immigrant women who had escaped from sex industry and caring for them through the counseling. While they execute the counseling, they revealed that influx of immigrant women to sexual industries is accomplished by typical fraudulent employment including swindling under the pretext of finding employment in manufacturing factory, international marriage and entertainment. They raise necessity of care center and hotline, education to the front-line police who often face immigrant women, problem of the immigration control law also. Furthermore, they suggest including a clause which was named ‘strong punishment to the sex trafficking which use foreign women and reinforcing protect solution on sexually traded foreign women’ to each politic parties election public commitment.
(3) A problem awaiting solution
(A) A problem to be solved by government
1) Authority not only has to manage efficiently an entry into and departure from the country through the improvement of entertainment visa issue system, but also should make the circumstance so that victims can report comfortably as exhaustive investigation to the human terrific criminal syndicate, strengthening pursuit investigation and punishment to criminal, repatriation of accused people, compensation to the victims.
2) In case that immigrant woman used by sex trafficking has a possibility to be harmed when she comes back to her country, a deportation order should not be conducted. Government must protect her safely within Korea with providing realistic translate service and expansion of care center, but also should make special support system for immigrant women who was sexually traded, and should support them same level welfare service compare to native Korean.
3) Korean government has to search the way to do substantial surveillance for work through the improvement labor supervision system of immigrant women working a club, bar or the other places.
4) Authority has to fulfill international agreement thoroughly which was enacted for protection of victims and human and sex trafficking, and should accomplish to keep watching other countries extent of execution. Concretely, government should make a list of criminal who participate in sex and human trafficking and exchange it among countries. Authority especially must prevent these crime by the process that make a list of personal or organization who executed sex trafficking or human trafficking and must notify to their country in order to be punished by their government.
5) Authority should not only maintain concord system, which was enacted to protect victims from international sex trafficking with NGO, foreign government and International organization, let alone within government itself, but also have to provide and conduct public education program for improving public understanding about necessity of effort to prevent international human trafficking and the harm of it.
(B) A problem to be solved by NGO
1) Let the assembly ratify the international organized crime prevention agreement in related to sex trafficking and human trafficking, and should execute amendment movement of sex trafficking prevention law, which intend to change immigrant part of act which inserted passively to positive act that may guarantee the same level of protection.
2) Should extend to support for victims among immigrant women by sex trafficking. Meanwhile, NGO’s execute to counsel and support mainly native sex trafficking victims. As it was difficult situation to find another support system, support for immigrant women also conducted within the system for native, so that support can’t help being provided to only a few immigrant women who request counseling actively because of the lack of specialized program, finance and human resource for supporting and counseling. Therefore expand support program for immigrant women suffered by sex trafficking.
3) Construct connecting network with related organizations in order to support victims of sex trafficking and to solve the problem, sex trafficking of immigrant women. And give actual help to them by solidarity with foreign related organizations.
4) Provide periodical counseling program and Train counseling expert who can counsel immigrant women harmed by sex trafficking with specialty.
5) Provide campaign and program which intend to reform consciousness to prohibit violation of human right and belittlement of foreign women which are exist among some Korean man, the main sex purchaser.
5. Conclusion
Beijing declaration prescribes the human right guarantee of foreign women worker as clearly expressing following statement, “Create, improve or develop as appropriate, and fund the training programmes for judicial, legal, medical, social, educational and police and immigrant personnel, in order to avoid the abuse of power leading to violence against women and sensitize such personnel to the nature of gender-based acts and threats of violence so that fair treatment of female victims can be assured” Moreover, World conference on racism in Durban 2001, South Africa, that gender equality minister of Korean government participated as a representative, press not only to have special interest in ‘Gender Issues’ including sexual discrimination to each government when multiple obstruction that immigrant women can face is crossing with considering the ratio of increasing of immigrant women worker, but also to develop an action regulation for accelerating the right, dignity, and safety with abolition discrimination based on sex and racism. Therefore, government and NGO have to execute actively to cease the racism culture and to enact law for protection of immigrant women.
The most important thing in order to protect human right of foreign workers is to accept them as one of us, not as an outsider. We have to recover the community spirit so as to make immigrant workers respectable as one of the members of society and in order to let them escape the status of modern slave. For these reason, Beijing declaration should be accomplished rapidly. Evaluation_of_Beijing.hwp