Denouncing Human Trafficking in China: North Korean Women's Memoirs as Evidence

Ana Belén Martínez García

doi:10.13169/statecrime.8.1.0059

Abstract

China's policy of returning North Koreans without a previous screening of their particular cases goes against international agreements, such as the Refugee Convention and Protocol. Multiple organizations have discussed this issue, quoting from legal documents as well as anonymized interviews. What this essay aims to do is present autobiographical texts that deal with the same topic but from a personal point of view. The conditions of North Koreans in China, relived in testimonial accounts, deserve special attention because of their first-person account of victimization. This essay situates North Korean women's memoirs within the tradition of life writing for testimonial purposes, aimed at raising awareness of the critical absence of human rights in the context of North Korean refugees, and the ongoing atrocities committed against girls and women.

Highlights

North Korean Refugees in ChinaAs a consequence of economic stagnation and widespread famine hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have been forced to cross into China in an influx that started in the 1990s, causing major concerns on a social level, but most for women (Davis 2006: 131)
Having come from different geographical places inside North Korea (Jang and Kim from rural and industrial areas, Park and Lee from a border merchant city) and from different family backgrounds and class (all of them mentioning issues of “songbun” throughout their narratives (Collins 2012), to point out the incongruences of the social classification system in North Korea), makes little difference when faced with the trauma of escaping North Korea and living in China
All four memoirists – Jang, Kim, Park and Lee – managed to escape China via diverse routes having experienced trafficking to some extent, which highlights their vulnerability as gendered victims of violence

Summary

Introduction

North Korean Refugees in ChinaAs a consequence of economic stagnation and widespread famine hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have been forced to cross into China in an influx that started in the 1990s, causing major concerns on a social level, but most for women (Davis 2006: 131). The first person singular pronoun is deployed to speak of human rights trespasses that the “I” has endured, and of the ones the “I” has witnessed, using that denouncing voice to raise awareness and give voice to a group of people – in this particular case, to North Korean women trafficked in China.

Results

Conclusion