Prostitution in North Korea is illegal, and
according to the
North Korean
government does not exist, but it is still practiced
discreetly.
State prostitution
The North Korean government engages in forced prostitution. Its
prostitutes are known as
manjokcho ( “satisfaction
team(s)”) and are organised as a part of the
kippŭmjo, who
are drafted from among 14 to 20 year old virgins, trained for about
20 months, and often “ordered to marry guards of [[[Kim Jong-il]]]
or national heroes” when they are 25 years old. For a girl selected
to serve in the
kippŭmjo, it is impossible to refuse, even
if she is the daughter of a party official.
Manjokcho must
have sex with male high-ranking
party officials. Their
services are not available to most North Korean men. Not all
kippŭmjo work as prostitutes – the source used is unclear
as to whether only adult women are assigned to prostitution, or
whether there is
prostitution
of children; other
kippŭmjo activities are massaging
and half-naked singing and dancing.
Chinese prostitution in North Korea
Many Chinese women are working as prostitutes in the Kumgangsan
Tourist Region of North Korea. Chinese prostitutes’ clients in
North Korea are often South Korean men who are travelers.
Female defectors in Northern China
North Korean women are increasing falling victim to sex
exploitation in China attempting to escape poverty and harsh
conditions in their homeland. Below 10,000 women are reported to
have escaped from North Korea to China; many of them are forced
into sexual slavery according to human rights groups.
According
to a source from 2005, “60 to 70 % of North Korean defectors in
the People's
Republic of China
are women, 70 to 80 % of whom are victims of human
trafficking.”Violent abuse starts in apartments near the
border, from where the women are then moved to cities further away
to work as sex slaves. When Chinese authorities arrest these North
Korean slaves, they repatriate them. North Korean authorities keep
such repatriates in penal labour colonies (and/or execute them),
execute any Chinese-fathered babies of theirs “to protect North
Korean
pure
blood” and force
abortions on all
pregnant repatriates not executed.
Further reading
- Kim, Eunyoung, Mirang Park, Hue Williams. "A Case Study of
Trafficking in North Korean Women in China". Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Nov 13,
2007
- Yoon, Bang-Soon. "Sex-Trafficking and Human Rights of North
Korean Women Defectors". Paper presented at the annual meeting of
the International Studies Association 48th Annual Convention, USA,
Feb 28, 2007
References
- Kim Il-song's North Korea by Helen-Louise Hunter.
Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999
- "China: Korean women forced into sex slavery" by Carol Anne
Douglas. Washington Post, 3/3/2004
- “ Intervention Agenda Item 12: Elimination of Violence
Against Women” at the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights in April 2004; speaker: Ji Sun JEONG
for A Woman's Voice International (AWVI, an NGO that
focused on the PRC's and DPRK's treatment of North Korean refugees to
China and of Christians). Incidentally, exactly one year after
her speech, the ECOSOC's
Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which “is the UN body
that adjudicates requests by nongovernmental organizations for
accreditation to participate in ECOSOC and its subsidiaries’
meetings”,[1] suspended AWVI at the instigation of the PRC's
delegation. This came after another AWVI speaker activated a
Chinese taser gun to illustrate torture by PRC authorities while
giving his speech at the UNCHR's 61st
plenary session.[2][3][4]
External links
See also
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