Danuri helps marriage migrants with hotline 1577-1366
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Consultants work at the Danuri Call Center’s headquarters in Hapjeong-dong, western Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
By Kim Bo-eun
Lan, a senior consultant at Danuri Helpline for marriage migrants, has a particular client she recalls from her 11-year career at the center.
Like Lan, 44, her client, 31, was a migrant from Vietnam.
She came here in 2005, only to find that her Korean husband was an alcoholic with a gambling addiction. He barely earned enough money to support his family, and physically and emotionally abused his wife for seven years.
The client finally reached out to Danuri, through which she was assisted in translation services in her divorce suit. She divorced and received alimony from her husband. The center also helped her find a job at a facility for marriage migrants to aid women like herself, and later as a translator.
Lan continues to keep in touch with her client.
Although her own circumstances were much more fortunate when she came to Korea 22 years ago, adjusting to life here was tough.
“There were no places where I could learn Korean nor were there any centers or hotlines for marriage migrants I could reach out to at the time,” Lan said.
“I had to overcome my difficulties by myself, with some help from my sister-in-law. I work to help women like myself who experience hardships as immigrants here.”
All consultants at Danuri Helpline (1577-1366) are marriage migrants themselves, as this is one of the qualifications for the job.
The center, which began as a hotline for marriage migrants in 2006, has grown as Korea becomes increasingly racially diverse.
The number of marriage migrants and naturalized Koreans reached 295,000 in 2015, according to data from the interior ministry.
The 24-hour hotline offers translation services and an overall guide to life here, such as information on acquiring Korean nationality, learning Korean, seeking jobs and getting government support. It also offers counseling for individuals, couples and families and refers them to legal consulting from professionals when necessary. In addition, Danuri assists those who become victims of domestic violence, providing them with shelter and linking them to other facilities.
These services are offered in 13 languages _ Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Mongolian, Russian, Thai, Khmer, Japanese, Uzbek, Laotian, Nepalese, English and Korean.
Clients can also visit the center for help. Its headquarters is in Seoul, with branches in Suwon, Daejeon, Gwangju, Busan, Gumi and Jeonju.
The center hosts training sessions for its consultants, and 90 percent of them are certified in at least one field in counseling.
“Danuri aims to assist women who have settled here to become professionals, and exert a positive influence,” said Cho Nan-young, chief of the center.
“Consultants provide services with hopes that their clients will not go through the same difficulties they experienced earlier.”