#MeToo and the powerful North Korean

When North Korean Kim Eun-a was assaulted by a police officer and a lawyer, she did not think of making a statement. such cases are on the agenda in North Korea.

"This type of abuse is committed so often by government officials and in fact by any powerful man that it is not easy for anyone to start a business," Kim said. "The" law enforcement officers "are themselves the perpetrators, so where can you go? The idea that sexual violence is bad, that it would not be my fault and that a" Law Enforcement Officer "should try to protect me, did not even come to my mind when I was living in North Korea."

Human Rights Watch interview 54 women fled about sexual violence by powerful men. HRW also spoke to eight former male officials. According to respondents, most abuses were committed by members of the security services [de la lignée] most often in detention centers and in informal markets. "We chose the favorite actresses and asked the hotel staff to take them to our rooms," said Goh Myun-chul, who held a high position in the bowibu. "We have never been rejected".

Markets are officially banned, making working women more vulnerable to security services, which often threaten them to lose their income if they do not do what they want. "Agents have asked me to follow them to an empty room outside the market," said Oh Jung-hee. "What can I do? They see us as toys."

Many women are silent, this is part of it. A woman who was raped by an agent said she was aware that in South Korea she had been raped. "At the time, I was not angry," said Yoon Su-ryun. "On the contrary, I felt that I had been lucky." This is because she had at least some food and clothing after the abuse.

Many respondents say that they never imagined doing anything except trying to stand out and avoid certain places. Women who refused advances were often punished for the confiscation of their goods or a single trip to a prison camp.

Women known to have been raped often face social exclusion and harassment. Indeed, their "pure" image is affected and they are often blamed for the sexual violence of which they are victims.

North Korea has no term for domestic violence. For example, a North Korean delegate met with the committee overseeing the UN Convention on Women. MP Park Kwang-ho could not explain how his country defined "discrimination against women". He had never heard of "rape in marriage". When asked if women were worried about losing their jobs if they did not go to bed with the boss, Park replied that it was their choice to accept – and argued that the boss should be released.

In 2015 the government sentenced five men for rape. While Pyongyang is likely to argue that North Korea is a crime-free paradise, according to HRW, these statistics show that the government is not taking the approach of sexual violence seriously at all.