sample case of an immigrant woman

koreaherald 2009.12.24
One day during the first trimester of her pregnancy eight years ago, a Vietnamese wife married to a Korean man felt severe morning sickness. Missing her hometown, she played a Vietnamese song for her baby. And just at that moment, her husband started hitting her. "I was terrified, having no idea what's going on. After running away from home, a police officer helped me stay at a community shelter," said the 42-year-old single mom, who declined to be named. She is one of nearly 70,000 foreign wives who have asked for help from the Emergency Support Center for Migrant Women over the past three years. Established by the Ministry of Gender Equality back in 2006, the state-run agency offers telephone referral services in eight languages and assists needy women to get proper help. "One month after I left home, I was told of my husband's death. I considered getting an abortion and going back to my home country. However, the center officials encouraged me a lot to stand on my own," she said. Thanks to the help from the support center, she gave birth to a boy and earns money to pay her monthly rent.


According to data issued yesterday, the agency has received a total of 70,305 inquiry-calls from November 2006 to end of October this year, which means 2,261 cases every month. The number of consultation requests has gradually increased as international marriage becomes more prevalent here. This year alone, 36,348 women asked for help from the agency as of October, almost doubled the 19,916 in 2008. The most frequent calls, accounting for 23 percent of the total, were on matters concerning husbands and in-laws. Next were legal consultations related to divorce, accounting for 15.9 percent. Consultations on domestic violence including sexual abuse also made up 9 percent, prompting the government to take a more specified approach to individual cases. Reflecting the current surge in foreign wives from Vietnam, calls from Vietnamese women were the most at 40.4 percent with 28,417 cases, followed by Chinese women with 28.3 percent, or 19,905 cases. Based on the data, the ministry plans to implement a variety of new programs supporting migrant women starting next year. In addition to the current headquarters in Seoul and branches in four local cities, the support center will operate branches in two more provincial cities. In order to help in the self-support of abused women and their children, a specialized center is scheduled to open in Seoul or a nearby city next year to offer housing, job training and childcare services. Aimed at preventing possible conflicts, marriage agencies are also going to be urged to offer cultural education and consultations to both foreign and Korean spouses.
(jylee@heraldm.com)
By Lee Ji-yoon