China must do more to stop North Korean refugees being sold into sexual slavery, rights group says
- Women and girls from the reclusive state are being trafficked and forced to work as prostitutes or sold as brides, and Beijing is doing little to stop it, Korea Future Initiative says
- While the world ponders the Korean denuclearisation issue, the plight of victims of trafficking are being ignored, London-based group says
A British human rights group is urging Beijing to change its policy on North Korean refugees, especially girls and women who are being trafficked and sold into the sex trade in China.
“Pushed from their homeland by a patriarchal regime that survives through the imposition of tyranny, poverty and opposition, North Korean women and girls are passed through the hands of traffickers, brokers and criminal organisations before being pulled into China’s sex trade, where they are exploited and used by men until their bodies are depleted,” Korea Future Initiative said in a report published on Monday.
Based on interviews with more than 45 victims of trafficking and exploitation, “Sex Slaves: The Prostitution, Cybersex & Forced Marriage of North Korean Women & Girls in China” turns a spotlight on the topic.
“There has been a great silence on sexual and gender-based violence directed against North Korean women and girls, and it was clear to me that no state was going to tackle this issue,” said Yoon Hee-soon who wrote the report.
Yoon, who is a researcher at the London-based not-for-profit organisation, said China and the international community were not doing enough to tackle the problem.
