revised Criminal Act carries a narrower definition in which a person who buys
or sells another shall be punishable.
131. Additionally, the Protocol states that the consent of a victim shall be irrelevant
where any of the illegal or improper means have been used, while the Criminal
Act does not acknowledge it as criminal human trafficking when a victim
seems to have been in agreement.
132. The Survey on Culture and Entertainment (E-6) Visa Holders by the NHRCK
in 2014 cites an interview with one woman migrant worker, saying that she
had to work 24/7 and was forced into prostitution. Sex buyers were charged
KRW 150,000 of which she was given KRW 45,000. She had to provide any
sexual act demanded and was even videotaped during sex.
133. The National Assembly's audit of state affairs in 2015 and relevant media
report shed a light on the issue where women migrant workers entering the
State with E-6 visa were forced into prostitution but investigated as a suspect
on charge of prostitution and subjected to compulsory eviction and protective
order to be sent to a public shelter for foreigners.
134. A women migrant worker counseled by a support center for women foreigners
also testified that she was assumed as a voluntary prostitute and subjected to
judgment on the violation of the Immigration Act first rather than investigated
as a human trafficking and forced prostitution victim only because she could
use a cell phone even though she had to escape from confinement and called
for help with her passport confiscated and no geographical knowledge about
her location.
135. Another issue is that there is no precedent to punish a perpetrator for the charge
of forcing women migrant workers holding E-6 visa into prostitution. If
punished for something else, the degree of the punishment was mere a meager
fine which was not enough to stop them from running a brothel and exploiting
them.
136. Rarely has violators been punished, victims, on the other hand, frequently
suffer from secondary abuse, forcing them to withdraw the litigation against
their exploitative and abusive employers upon deportation order.
137. Thus, it is highly necessary to legislate a law to punish violators, protect
victims, and prevent human trafficking of migrant workers in Republic of
Korea. Prior to this, what is urgent now is to establish a cooperative system
or devoted institution that can coordinate and synchronize roles and
responsibilities of multiple corresponding government agencies.
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