By Kim Se-jeong
The recent #MeToo movement resonates with many women in Korea, giving them a sense of social justice. But it doesn't fully do so with immigrant wives in Korea who often fall victim to sexual assault at home.
Tens of thousands of young Asian women have moved to Korea after marrying Korean men ― their population outnumbers female migrant workers.
Many experience hardships in their marriages, often including sexual violence and mistreatment, but they choose to stay quiet because they have too much to lose by speaking up about their spouses' behavior.
Their silence was also reflected at a press conference held in the National Assembly last Friday.
Stories of their horrendous experiences were told but not by the victim themselves. Their stories were told by activists and interpreters helping them through the ordeals.
"These women have a lot to lose if they speak out," said Kim Hye-sook, co-chairwoman of the Korea Women Migrants Human Rights Center who organized the press conference. "They're aware of the movement and somehow hope it will save them."
As an activist, Kim added the #MeToo movement gives little hope to the migrant women. "There has been much momentum to address this issue before, but nothing happened eventually."
The stories recounted at the press conference were upsetting.
In one case, a Vietnamese immigrant had her younger sister fly in to live with her in Korea, as she had three children and needed help with childcare. The tragedy began when her husband raped her sister.
In fear of repeated rape, she left home with her three children and her sister. At a shelter, she faced a hard choice: to either raise her three children alone as an illegal alien or return home to stay with her husband as if nothing happened. She chose the latter _ she needed a husband to stay in Korea legally and get Korean citizenship and feared becoming a single mother.
In a separate case, a Vietnamese woman had her mother fly into Korea to help her with childbirth. Her younger sister also lived in Korea with her own family. Her mother went to help her sister and was raped by a friend of her son-in-law's father. The mother learned the son-in-law's father even assisted his friend in the assault.
The mother sued him but the suffering continued because the offender's family pressured her to settle the case.
The mother's family back in Vietnam also got to know what happened to her, and when she was ready to go back she was unwelcome at her old village due to opposition from her family and had to find another place to live.
Kim said the migrants need policy support to speak up.
"If they need an abusive husband around to stay legal in Korea, how can they speak up against him?"
The recent #MeToo movement resonates with many women in Korea, giving them a sense of social justice. But it doesn't fully do so with immigrant wives in Korea who often fall victim to sexual assault at home.
Tens of thousands of young Asian women have moved to Korea after marrying Korean men ― their population outnumbers female migrant workers.
Many experience hardships in their marriages, often including sexual violence and mistreatment, but they choose to stay quiet because they have too much to lose by speaking up about their spouses' behavior.
Their silence was also reflected at a press conference held in the National Assembly last Friday.
Stories of their horrendous experiences were told but not by the victim themselves. Their stories were told by activists and interpreters helping them through the ordeals.
"These women have a lot to lose if they speak out," said Kim Hye-sook, co-chairwoman of the Korea Women Migrants Human Rights Center who organized the press conference. "They're aware of the movement and somehow hope it will save them."
As an activist, Kim added the #MeToo movement gives little hope to the migrant women. "There has been much momentum to address this issue before, but nothing happened eventually."
The stories recounted at the press conference were upsetting.
In one case, a Vietnamese immigrant had her younger sister fly in to live with her in Korea, as she had three children and needed help with childcare. The tragedy began when her husband raped her sister.
In fear of repeated rape, she left home with her three children and her sister. At a shelter, she faced a hard choice: to either raise her three children alone as an illegal alien or return home to stay with her husband as if nothing happened. She chose the latter _ she needed a husband to stay in Korea legally and get Korean citizenship and feared becoming a single mother.
In a separate case, a Vietnamese woman had her mother fly into Korea to help her with childbirth. Her younger sister also lived in Korea with her own family. Her mother went to help her sister and was raped by a friend of her son-in-law's father. The mother learned the son-in-law's father even assisted his friend in the assault.
The mother sued him but the suffering continued because the offender's family pressured her to settle the case.
The mother's family back in Vietnam also got to know what happened to her, and when she was ready to go back she was unwelcome at her old village due to opposition from her family and had to find another place to live.
Kim said the migrants need policy support to speak up.
"If they need an abusive husband around to stay legal in Korea, how can they speak up against him?"
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