There are barriers to the participation of young North Korean women in the human rights movement.
Today, December 10, marks Human Rights Day. For 73 years, the world has celebrated the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. We have come so far, but every Human Rights Day, I reflect with a heavy heart on the women in North Korea. They continue to suffer blackmail, corruption, sexual assault, trafficking, and even forced abortions and infanticide. They are consigned to a bleak future if further action is not taken.
Speaking with Timothy Cho, a North Korean escapee in the U.K. with the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, we shared the biggest challenge about working on North Korean human rights: insufficient action being taken. With the systematic, widespread, and grave crimes against humanity in North Korea, proactive steps must be taken to address North Korean women’s rights issues. Here are some preliminary steps.
Democratic countries should provide platforms for women who have escaped North Korea. There are prominent North Korean women sharing their stories through books, media appearances, social media, and even a local election, including Jihyun Park, Hyeonseo Lee, Seohyun Lee, and Yeonmi Park. Just sharing their stories can be an act of empowerment.
However, as the Korea Future Initiative has uncovered, there are “barriers to the participation and leadership of young North Korean women in the human rights movement.” These barriers should be dismantled. According to Jiyeon Kim, a North Korean escapee based in the United States, “the barriers that North Korean escapee women face in leadership and participation in the human rights movement stem from discrimination against women and North Korean defectors in South Korea.” South Korean policymakers can play a part by genuinely addressing these issues. Kim further elaborates that steps must be taken “to systematically educate and train North Korean women who have an active will to participate in human rights activities so that they can become leaders for North Korean women’s human rights.” [Continue Reading]
