탈북여성의 이성 관계를 통해본 인권침해 구조와 대응 = 탈북 및 정착과정을 중심으로

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to consider human rights issues and changes in behaviors of women defectors from North Korea from their experiences of moving through North Korea, China and South Korea. Structural human rights issues and relevant behaviors in each space can be summarized as follows.
In North Korea, the issue of human rights has been raised in women’s lives due to patriarchal social structure of the state regime. Specific examples include the discrimination of women due to the male-centered household, women’s restriction on business activities, frequent abortions influenced by restriction on marital age. The issue of human rights abuse in relationship with husbands include the violence and infidelities of husbands and women’s passive sexual relationship. Interviewees who had confronted with such situations finally has chosen the escape from North Korea. For them, the escape from North Korea has functioned as the escape from the poverty and the patriarchal society. On the other hand, their lives in China are insecure and they have experienced the physical violence
arising from the fear of imposed punishment if they are forcibly de ported to North Korea. Human rights abuses in marriage process and married lives can be divided into purchased marriage, sexual violence, confinement, restriction of right to have children. In such situation, the women tried to find the minimum of human rights through an act of escape and resistance in search of a decent place to live in and a spouse to live with them. In South Korea, along with the change of becoming a proud South Korean citizen, they fall into the position of the weak in society as the underprivileged class. The double discrimination of being a North Korean refugee and being a woman makes it difficult to maintain the relationship with the Chinese husband after arrival in South Korea. Those who marry South Korea husbands have experienced the double discrimination of being a wife from a poor country and from an enemy state, within the family. Some of them get divorced from their husbands due to the marital difficulties from social discrimination in South Korea and some of them try to overcome conflict and maintain relationship.
The significant findings of this study can be seizes the diversity of each individuals behaviors as well as revealing the structural human rights issues, and reveals that women are not just the victims but the independent, and even subjective human beings who have actively responded to victimizing circumstances and transformed themselves.