There is the ever-increasing number of migrant women who seek any opportunity for overseas employment largely due to widening inter- national economic gap under the control of global capitalism represented by neo-liberalism. Contrary to international ...
There is the ever-increasing number of migrant women who seek any opportunity for overseas employment largely due to widening inter- national economic gap under the control of global capitalism represented by neo-liberalism. Contrary to international migrant men, it is typical that the migrant women have higher tendency to be employed in a variety of service jobs including sex business or household chores, while choosing to marry the men of different nationality as well. However, the migrant women in Korean society often undergo sexual discrimination and violence, not mention to the social discrimination against their native country. Nevertheless, many of violence cases against migrant women are often concealed to the public, which causes inevitably tardy measures against such cases.
By focusing on immigrant women's problems as often overlooked upon considering them only from the angle of labor problem, this study refers to a fact-finding research into the violence experiences of 207 immigrant women who lived in Gyeongnam provincial area. And in order to identify any international or intercultural difference in the brutality and obligation of sexual violence, this study attempted a further analysis via firsthand interview as well. Moreover, it also allowed for the actual cases of home violence counseling for migrant women in Korea.
The results of this study can be outlined as follows:
First, it addressed the actual profile of violence migrant women were suffering in Korean society. In practice, the rate of violence experiences that reflected their employment reality well reached 42.5%, and most of assailants(72.8%) were Korean people. Notably, it was found that 41.7% (almost 4 out of 10) of migrant women underwent any sexual violence once or more. The cases of firsthand sexual abuse included sexual joke or requests for sexual intercourse(57.7%), bodily contact or sexual attack (21.3%), lewd behaviors(17.8%) and attempted criminal assault(1.6%). The assailants included Korean superior(29.2%), unacquainted Korean(26.2%), Korean employer(13.8%), Korean coworker(12.3%), native coworker(1.5%), coworker from a third nation(3.1%), house owner(1.5%), neighbor Korean (6.2%) and the like. On the other hand, it was noted that sexual abuse against migrant women occurred largely within in-house environment and in connection with business, such as workplace(62.5%), dining party for employees(15.6%), their living home(7.8%), park(4.7%), lodging facility (1.6%) and so on. A survey hereof showed that most migrant victims of sexual violence in Korea comprised Russian women, and 62.0% relied on just standing such sexual abuse due to their own vulnerable social standing and language problems even after suffering assault. In case of prostitution, it was found that 32.3% of in-house superiors and 12.9% of Korean coworkers actually offered prostitution deal. Noteworthily, most of such offers are exchanged largely via in-house Korean superiors or co-workers, rather than other go-betweens.
Second, in terms of home violence, it was found that 43.5% of 45 respondents who married Korean men faced their own authoritarian way of thinking(13.0%) and ever suffered violence under situation without any reasonable cause(23.0%), while depression was the most representative of resulting aftereffects on respondents. By categorical criteria, respondents suffered bodily violation like blow or beating(36.8%), sexual harassment (31.6%), psychologic violence(26.3%) and financial abuse(5.3%).
Third, the fundamental reason why respondents migrated to Korea was attributed primarily to financial problems(65.9%), although 12.8% of total respondents chose to migrate to Korea to gain new experiences. In terms of their occupation in homeland, they had ever been employed as manufacturing worker(26.1%), professional career women(23.3%) and homemaker(7.2%). But as of this survey, notably, they were employed in manufacturing industry(56.3.%), entertainment(7.4%) and private language school(11.4%). In Korea, the migrant women suffered racial or national discrimination, exploitation by corrupt broker, class discrimination in legal standing, monitoring and outing control in workplace, detention, question of medical treatment for industrial disaster and reasonable compensation for damages, and discrimination in employment. Besides, they also faced many difficulties in living such as cultural gap and nurture of children.
Summing up, the latest feminizing trend of migrant population is not exceptional in Korean society as well. There are a herd of migration questions to be resolved, including labor market condition, cultural gaps and verbal communication. The real questions of migrant women in Korea, however, are various cases of discrimination and violence as often overlooked or hidden to the public in nature, simply beyond migration problem of foreign worker. Nevertheless, their own unstable qualification of stay in Korea and inherent female reality as concealed are the cause of failure to take reasonable countermeasures.
Hence, it is necessary to take feministic approaches to sex distinction in international migration and prepare practical measures to prevent any violence against migrant women along with systematic programs for protecting victims.