Movements such as the #MeToo movement have shed light on cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault, and have provided a platform for countless victims to describe their experiences. However, a report by the Human Rights Watch describes the sexual violence that women in North Korea endure, often without any support and recognition. The report describes sexual violence against women in places such as prisons, detention centres, and markets, and the lack of assistance and acknowledgement from the North Korean government or society.
Women in North Korea face sexual violence from men in positions of power, especially in prisons and detention centres. Interviewees reported cases of rape, committed by using physical force against them and/or by taking advantage of their vulnerability. One woman, Yoon So Ryun, says she was raped when she was called in for questioning, but did not report the rape because she thought staying quiet would be best for her and her family. There is a sense of fear among women about reporting incidents of rape or other forms of sexual violence. Kim Eun A, who escaped North Korea in 2015, had previously attempted to flee but was caught. She describes how both the police investigator in charge of her case and her defence lawyer touched her in different places such as her breast. Despite feeling uncomfortable, she says she did not say anything because government officials had normalized this kind of behaviour. Although women make up the majority of traders in markets, women may face consequences for refusing sexual advances from male officials who manage the markets. Women are thoroughly aware that turning down sexual advances could lead to punishment or a loss of goods or money: Kim Chul Kook, who used to work as a trader along with his wife, said that accepting sexual coercion of women by male market officials was the only way to survive. These accounts given by interviewees imply the extreme degree of sexual violence North Korean women face in their lives. Despite the pervasiveness of sexual violence in North Korea, most women do not report any instances of sexual violence because of a lack of support from the government as well as the heavy social stigma surrounding it. Indeed, many women in the Human Rights Watch report describe seeing or hearing about other women, who were raped or experienced sexual violence, face backlash if word spread about what had happened to them. Many interviewees said they were scared of this backlash, and women in detention centres and prisons said they had seen victims being harassed by officials. On paper, North Korea says that it is committed to gender equality, but the reality is very different. In schools, there is a lack of sex education and stereotypical gender roles are enforced – with boys often encouraged to be leaders over their female students. For victims of sexual violence, there is a lack of medical and social support – the latter of which is also stigmatized. The sexual violence against women in prisons, detention centres, and markets only offers a small snippet of the serious problems that North Korean women face, most of which continue to persist because of a lack of support from the government and society in general. The accounts from the Human Rights Watch report interviewees prove that sexual violence against women is widespread, and victim blaming combined with an insufficient amount of support from the government perpetuates a cycle of sexual violence against women. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, it is even more significant to note that there are still many living without the ability to voice their experiences with sexual violence. Source
0 Comments
|