International Marriage Mediation, Average 5.7 Days from Matchmaking to Marriage
4 out of 10 Marriage Migrant Women "Have Experienced Domestic Violence"
The side effects of international marriages arranged through agencies are being highlighted. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Image source=Pixabay]
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Recently, a story has sparked controversy where a Korean husband who married through an international marriage brokerage continuously directed abusive language and insults toward his foreign wife. The side effects of international marriage brokerage, such as domestic violence, have been problematic for some time.
On the 5th, MBC's 'Oh Eun-young Report - Marriage Hell' featured a couple: Korean husband Mr. A, who is 13 years older, and his Uzbek wife Ms. B. The couple, married through an international marriage brokerage, have been weekend spouses for eight years. After the husband lost his job due to company bankruptcy, the wife, who speaks three languages, was solely supporting the household by working as a call center counselor. Childcare and housework were also the wife's responsibilities.
What drew the most criticism from viewers was the husband's abusive language and harsh words shown in the footage. He was immersed in gaming and responded with severe verbal abuse to his wife, who wished to spend a warm family time with their children after a long time. Ms. B, who complained about the stress caused by her husband's insults, revealed that he once said to her, "I bought you." The husband later explained that it was a joke.
Dr. Oh pointed out the couple's problem as the "start of an unequal relationship." Mr. A chose international marriage after breaking off a long-term relationship with a Korean woman and married Ms. B just two days after meeting her. In international couples married through brokerage, the dating period is almost nonexistent, and marriages happen quickly, meaning the relationship starts from an unequal footing.
However, this is a typical situation for international couples married through brokerage. According to last year's 'Survey on the Actual Conditions of International Marriage Brokerage' released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the average time from matchmaking to marriage was only 5.7 days. Korean spouses paid an average brokerage fee of 13.71 million KRW.
According to a 2017 survey by the National Human Rights Commission, 4 out of 10 marriage immigrant women suffer from domestic violence. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Image source=Pixabay]
International marriage brokerage has been controversial several times domestically. Issues of domestic violence against marriage migrant women have come to the surface. In 2019, public outrage erupted when a video showing a Vietnamese marriage migrant woman being indiscriminately assaulted by her husband was released. In fact, a survey shows that 4 out of 10 marriage migrant women suffer from domestic violence. According to the 2017 'Survey on the Stable Residency Guarantee for Marriage Migrants' by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), 387 out of 920 migrant women experienced domestic violence.
As domestic violence against migrant women became a social issue, local governments' 'Rural Bachelor Marriage Support Projects' also came under scrutiny. In 2019, a petition titled "Abolish Tax Support for Rural Bachelor International Marriage Subsidies" was posted on the Blue House's public bulletin board. The petitioner criticized, "Local governments are encouraging arranged marriages by providing subsidies to buy women from Southeast Asia," and added, "Children from multicultural families in rural areas struggle to adapt to public education, and the severity of domestic violence is not even assessed. They are simply bringing women to rural areas to give birth for the sake of increasing birth rates."
In April last year, Mungyeong City in Gyeongbuk faced backlash after sending an official letter externally proposing to arrange meetings between rural unmarried men and Vietnamese students to address rural population decline. The letter reportedly included content such as, "To increase the rural population and vitality, we seek cooperation to promote rural bachelor marriages through natural meetings between rural bachelors who missed the marriage age and Vietnamese students." Vietnamese students, along with several civil society organizations like the Korea Migrant Women’s Human Rights Center, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
In response, on the 7th of last month, the Human Rights Commission expressed its position to the mayor of Mungyeong City to review population increase policies from a gender equality perspective and to conduct human rights education for affiliated staff. The Commission pointed out, "Korea's policies related to marriage migrant women have been consistently criticized for treating migrant women as subjects responsible for childbirth and childcare and as means to achieve population growth."
Furthermore, the Commission stated, "They attempted to arrange marriages without considering the specific needs of rural men hoping for international marriage or the diversity of reasons Vietnamese women migrate to Korea," adding, "This stems from patriarchal gender role stereotypes that perceive women as beings obligated to unpaid family labor such as childbirth, childcare, and housework."
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