Human Rights Watch released its latest report on sexual violence against women in North Korea, a problem so widespread women have been conditioned to think of it as normal and routine
Human Rights Watch calls for immediate action to stop what it says is widespread sexual abuse in North Korea.
In an 86 page report released Thursday, the group says its three year study of the issue has found that abuse against women is so common, “it has come to be accepted as part of ordinary life,” in North Korea.
The Human Rights Watch report follows a July 2018 white paper on North Korean human rights published by the Korean Institute for National Unification. The white paper reported “women are easily exposed to domestic violence, gender-based exploitation, and violence in society, and the social conditions where women can be protected from such violence or seek relief were found to be lacking.”
In its report, Human Rights Watch said, “The government [of North Korea] fails to investigate and prosecute complaints, or to provide protection and services to victims, and even asserts that the country is implausibly free of sexism or sexual violence.”
“Sexual violence in North Korea is an open, unaddressed, and widely tolerated secret,” said Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch’s executive director.
“North Korean woman would probably say ‘Me Too’ if they thought there was any way to obtain justice,” Roth said, “but their voices are silenced in Kim Jong Un’s dictatorship.”
Extensive tales of abuse
Researchers for Human Rights Watch interviewed 54 North Koreans for this report. Roth called it “the most extensive study ever done of sexual violence in North Korea.”
“Like all research on North Korea, it’s difficult because one cannot get physical access to the country,” he said, noting as with other research and reporting, it relied on interviews with individuals who had escaped the country.
A participant in the study, Oh Jung Hee, told researchers she had been sexually assaulted numerous times.
