Originally published: Gwangju News
*Name withheld for anonymity
Anna* is a soft-spoken woman with large kind brown eyes. When I interviewed her, her dark choppy hair was loosely pulled back into a ponytail, juxtaposed against the bright-oversized red sweater she wore. She clasped her hands together tightly, looking from the floor back to me. Anna, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, has been in Korea for five years currently working as a counselor at the Emergency Support Center for Migrant Women in Gwangju. Anna met her now husband, a Korean, back in her hometown two years before coming to Korea to travel, study and meet his family. “I can understand English, but Korean is easier now,” she explained.
Anna, like many employees of the Center, has experienced the difficulties of living in Korea as a migrant woman. “In this center, I can help legally my Uzbek friends and other migrant women who have difficulties with family,” she explained in English. “I’m not a migrant woman, I’m not Korean, I’m not Uzbek, I’m just a woman and I can work. We can work with migrant women and Korean people together. If, for example, I work in another office like a bank or police station … and there are only Korean people and it’s just me, it’s difficult to work with them because it’s only me. But here, I can see the same people like me. I may feel alone if I’m only one person, only one foreigner.”
The Emergency Support Center for Migrant Women in Gwangju is sustained as a part of the Korean Institute for Healthy Families, a subdivision of the government branch, the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family. The center’s main office, located in Seoul, opened in 2006 and supports a network of six different branches operating throughout the country, including Busan, Daejeon, Gwangju, Gyeongbuk, Jeonbuk and Suwon.
Goen Hyun-hee has acted as the Gwangju center’s director since its inception in 2009. The center focuses on supporting migrant women who are often victims of violence, domestic abuse and rape. The center also offers migrant women assistance with language services as well as familial and workplace counseling.
Goen’s passion for human rights is tied to her own personal experiences.
“I could relate to the way these women were treated as outsiders.”
Goen Hyun-hee, Gwangju Migrant Women’s Center director
Goen has had a demonstrated passion for women’s rights and non-profit organizations for many years, working and learning about different human rights issues throughout her travels in Asia.
Committee members belonging to six regional centers and Seoul center convene monthly to share information for better support and to discuss various case studies regarding specific issues migrant women face, such as domestic violence. As local centers have different needs, the directors determine how to best support each individual community. For example, the Suwon center assists many factory workers that are part of the labor force in that area, while Gwangju and other branches may have different needs. The board of directors determines which center will hold the meeting each month, depending on the number and type of cases reported to each center during that month.
Networking and policy proposals are also discussed.
The Gwangju center is staffed by native speakers of five different languages. It has expanded its capacity by volunteers who can speak other languages. Most of the women the Gwangju center assists are foreign spouses. A practice similar to arranged marriage is not entirely uncommon among Korean males. Individuals who act as brokers travel to surrounding countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia in order to foster marriage relations between migrant women and Korean males. At the end of last year, Yonhap News reported that more than 149,000 foreign spouses or marriage immigrants have acquired Korean citizenship, an increase from 125,000 in 2009. At present, the Seoul center hotline (which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year) employs native speakers of 11 languages. The Gwangju center employs speakers of five different languages but can assist women via conference calls if they need assistance in other languages than those provided by the Gwangju center’s employees.
According to a Yonhap report, brokers have been known to take advantage of migrant women who are new to the country, don’t speak the language or understand colloquial customs. In some cases, these women experience further difficulties with cultural adjustment, familial relations and in more severe situations, domestic abuse and violence. The center has dealt with situations of abuse and rape of migrant women by marriage brokers before being brought to their future husbands. Some women who seek help from the center are also victims of spousal rape. In these situations, the center will assist the woman with translation, seeking legal counsel, recourse and navigating the Korean court system.
An analysis of the Seoul center’s calls published last year by the Chosun Ilbo stated that nearly half of the women who called “sought counseling for conflict with husbands, domestic violence and divorce. Some 22.8 percent complained about the difficulty of adapting to a new living environment, and 17.3 percent expressed grievances about mistreatment or prejudice in the workplace.” Earlier this year, a report released by the center stated that 10.7 percent of the 1,218 migrant workers polled were victims of harassment and/or abuse. Some individuals experienced harassment at home while others experienced it in the workplace from employers and/or coworkers.
Many women who seek counseling assistance from the center are not necessarily in severe domestic abuse situations. However, some struggle with adaptation to Korean life and customs, often times being unaware of or misunderstanding social norms within Korean society. The center’s employees attempt to act as a liaison between spouses, in-laws and employers and assist migrant women with language barriers to explain and help alleviate conflict.
Many women arrive in Korea underprepared for understanding Korean culture. Marriage brokers facilitate brief orientation type sessions for migrant women in their home countries before their arrival in Korea, but often times these sessions are insufficient in helping migrant women understand the differences between their home country and Korea, in addition to the unrealistic expectations put upon them by their husbands and families.
According to a Chosun Media article, one Vietnamese migrant woman received counseling from the center after experiencing issues with her mother-in-law. The woman was unable to speak Korean and did not understand why her mother-in-law constantly yelled at her. After calling the center and receiving interpretation services, she learned that her mother-in-law had a hearing disability and spoke loudly for that reason. In some cases, foreign spouses have benign misunderstandings such as this, where others range from cultural differences to expectations and roles within the home.
“The patriarchal consciousness and customs of Korean families expect foreign wives to quickly adapt to life which causes confusion for migrant women and eventually leads to conflict,” Kwon Mi-kyung, director of the Seoul center, told the Korea Herald. The Herald reported that as of 2010, the number of cases of assault and rape was 6,985, up 12 percent from 2009.
The Gwangju center provides services to migrant women, but many current employees at the center were once seeking assistance themselves. The work allows them to become self-sustaining and raise their social status, Goen explained. Employees of the Gwangju center are given thorough counseling training and possess intermediate Korean language skill. Women like the Uzbek counselor are able to continue to reside in Korea where economic and social situations are often times better than in their home countries.
Despite the efforts of the center and directors like Goen, a pervasive prejudice against migrant women still exists in Korean society, as they are often seen as poor, uneducated and of a lower social status. “There is discrimination and psychological rejection against foreigners. I hope that we can grow sympathy towards immigrants. They live with us. Foreigners are also our neighbors. We are living in a global world. I think that this kind of sensitivity could be grown by training, not just by thinking,” Goen said. “If we do that, violence against foreigners and immigrants will decrease. Even though she who marries a Korean [but is not Korean], she is a human who has rights. She is a valuable person.”
Goen explained her initial passion for human rights issues and how she hopes to see the center grow in the future. “I realized what severe, unspeakable pain immigrants had to go through. I was looking for a way to contribute in terms of human rights, then there was a notice that the Gwangju center was going to open up,” Goen said.
“I am interested in human life. I’ve traveled to so many countries and I just love to see how people live. Every time I traveled [I thought], what’s happening to women in this society? What are their lives like? I hope that people who were nurtured from this center can become leaders in Korean society, help their own communities and voice their rights.”
Goen Hyun-hee
At present, the Gwangju center is in need of additional space for counseling. They also wish to be able to provide women who are in crisis situations or who do not feel safe at home with temporary housing or residency and support services, but the center’s resources are limited. Goen also expresses a desire to assist migrant women with achieving self-sufficiency, stating that frequently it is difficult to find more permanent establishments and employment for them due to the fact that people are unwilling to rent to them, they cannot speak Korean and other mitigating factors.
Migrant women in Gwangju who find themselves in need of counseling or legal assistance are encouraged to contact the support center. The Gwangju center is located at 1001-25 Wolsan-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju 503-230 (5th floor). They can be reached at 062-366-1366. More information about the network of centers throughout Korea and language, legal and counseling services they provide can be found at www.wm1366.or.kr. The 24-hour service line number can be accessed by calling 1577-1366 (no area code required and can be dialed from any working phone within South Korea). At present, the Gwangju center is not equipped to provide assistance for severe medical emergencies or after-hours emergencies. Individuals are encouraged to dial 119 for medical emergencies and/or 112 to reach police.