Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crosbystillsstash]

http://koreabeat.com/?p=3968


For 29-year old Uzbekistani woman Natasha (not her real name), Korea is a �land of tears�. When I met her in the Emergency Support Center for Migrant Women (이주여성긴급지원센터) in Shinseol-dong, Seoul, recently, she wept uncontrollably. She came to Korea dreaming a �Korean dream�. But a hellish life awaited her.

On November 9th of last year she arrived at Incheon International Airport with Ms. Kim, an Uzbekistani-Korean. �Ms. Kim asked me work in a mobile phone factory,� so she left her daughter behind in Tashkent for 17 months. But as soon as she entered the country she went to an hourly hotel in Seoul. Mr. Jo, the broker she was connected to by Ms. Kim, said, �you have to massage the customers and have sex with them.� When Natasha cried and protested Kim and Jo took her to a red-light district and threatened to leave her there forever if she refused to do as they said.

On December 20th of last year Natasha was moved to a massage parlor in Ansan, in Gyeonggi-do, by someone she didn�t recognize. There she met several other Uzbekistani women who were already �working�. One of them was able to speak Korean well so Natasha asked her to call the police, and on the 30th of the same month she and five others were rescued.

The experience has had lasting effects on her body and mind. The entire W3.5 million she earned in the brothels was taken by the broker on the pretext of paying for her entry into the country, and worse, she �was charged W15 million for a phony marriage to a Korean man.� Natasha�s dream of starting a beauty salon in her hometown was stolen by the brokers, �human traffickers� who received W5 million per woman he supplied to the brothels. The brokers went into hiding immediately after the police investigation began.

In mid-January the Danwon Police Department in Ansan charged Natasha with filing false documents because of her sham marriage to a Korean man. They did not account of the fact that she was �forced� into prostitution.
A representative of My Sister�s Place (두레방), an organization which aids victims of prostitution, went to the Danwon Police Department on January 24th to protest the decision. Park Su-mi, head of counselling services for the organization, said, �the root of this case is that Natasha was tricked into sex work by human traffickers. According to the UN advisory on human rights and trafficking, police are not to charge her.� Thus, although she entered the country illegally, her crimes ought to be forgiven because of her entrapment in prostitution.

Though she wants to return to her hometown, Natasha must wait a while longer. She said, �the police have to catch the brokers so that there are no more victims like me.�


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So the cops arrest her, with no mention of the man?

[Xuanzang]

It's disgusting that they blame her for filing false documents of her sham marriage to a Korean man. They did not account of the fact that she was �forced� into prostitution and doesnt know Korean very well either.

On the plus side, some Korean groups are fighting for her rights...

[tigercat]

This is so messed up and disgusting.

[tigercat]

[quote="Xuanzang"]It's disgusting that they blame her for filing false documents of her sham marriage to a Korean man. They did not account of the fact that she was �forced� into prostitution and doesnt know Korean very well either.[/quote

Is this a case of stupid police/laws or a face-saving tactic, to blame and punish the victim instead of the Korean human traffickers?!

[livinginkunsan]

Maybe ATEK should jump on this case.. seems a bit more of a human rights issue.

[wayfarer]

Wonder if a Korea apologist will step out and try to rationalize this bs.

[oldfatfarang]

I've seen this type of human-trafficking twice - on flights between Thailand and Korea. Very, very young Thai girls with a Korean male escorting her to Korea.

And, in the Korean Embassy in Bangkok: young, poor looking Thai girls applying for visas with a very hard looking Mamasan. My Thai GF said: "They go Korea - for Karaoke."

Human trafficking is big business in Asia. Without any consequences for the traffickers, it seems.

Just last night I saw a news clip on K tv about an Indonesian woman who had stabbed her K husband - twice. There were scenes of Koreans violently protesting about this/something? My K-girl didn't say anything about the traffickers - or the plight of woman sold/tricked into 'marriage/slavery with a Korean man - just the usual foreigner doing bad things in K line.

[Davew125]

[potin14p]

I used to volunteer at that shelter, the women who work there are fantastic, but there is only so much they can do. Around 2 months ago, there was a case in Daegu of a young wife from Vietnam(?) who killed her husband after his prolonged domestic abuse. I would be interested to see how her court case goes, ... actually I'd probably cry if I read about it, considering how messed up the Korean legal system has proven itself to be, especially in Korean national vs. foreigner cases.

[crosbystillsstash]

[wesharris]

Dare ye not question the mods .
_+_
Wes

[tigercat]

[Straphanger]

[rac118]

im usually drunk when i read this website, i cant read a post thats that long. you should summarize the story in your own words, in a sentence or two.

kthanks

[jkelly80]

SPARKLING IS A RACIAL SLUR!!! MODZ PLZ DELETE THIS THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!