As an international marriage is increasing and a market system is being globalized, the number of immigrant women is increasing in Korea, leading to discourse on multiculturalism. Although multicultural societies should be based on coexistance and hum...
As an international marriage is increasing and a market system is being globalized, the number of immigrant women is increasing in Korea, leading to discourse on multiculturalism. Although multicultural societies should be based on coexistance and human rights, the current legal system in Korea is still not proper enough to carry out the value. Thereby, the system is lack of the security of immigrant women in both Korean society and their families. These factors are likely to lead them to become victims of domestic violence. The aim of this article is to describe the reality of the domestic violence against immigrant women, to analyze its causes and to suggest its preventing system.
The immigrant women are reported to suffer a lot more domestic violence than the native Korean women. The violence involves psychological, physical or sexual violence, economic cruelty, cultural insults, etc. The major cause for that may be partriarchism, socio-cultural differences and economic weakness. In particular, the instability in their legal residence gives overwhelming power to their husbands, making them to use violence easily. To prevent the domestic violence, it is necessary to reform the nationality act on their legal residence. The reform should give the immigrant women the citizenship as quickly as possible after their marriage and be more flexible in extending the legal residence period.