Women's empowerment movement faces new challenges in digital era
Lee Yoo-lim, president of the Seoul branch of the YWCA, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Seoul YWCA headquarters in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, June 22. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Jung Da-min
The women's empowerment movement is facing new challenges in the digital era. With the fast-paced development of digital technologies, a generational shift and other social changes stemming from various factors, not least of which is the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among many other factors, the pandemic situation has especially accelerated the digitization of society, as more communities have adopted contactless or remote communication methods through online channels for their routine activities. Working from home and taking online classes have become more common along with such changes, but this has had a negative impact on women's economic activities, says Lee Yoo-lim, president of the Seoul branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), a global non-governmental organization.
"It seems that the burden of childcare for working mothers has increased considerably since the pandemic started, as the situation in which they work from home and take care of their children who take online classes has been prolonged," Lee said in an interview with The Korea Times at her office in central Seoul, June 22.
According to an online survey of 3,007 working mothers conducted late last year by the government-run Korean Women's Development Institute, 20.9 percent of respondents said they quit their jobs last year between March and November as they felt more pressure not only at work but at home as well. In many cases they mentioned they quit because of their employers or their spouses who asked them to quit their jobs to focus on childcare.
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage a small rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul while holding posters depicting women working in various professions, many of whom have faced difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, in this March 8 photo, to mark the 113th anniversary of International Women's Day. Yonhap
Lee also said many women in their 20s working in the face-to-face services industry have lost their jobs during the pandemic. At the same time, an increased number of young women in their 20s and 30s committed suicide last year compared to previous years, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. While the government said it would continue its analysis to determine the fundamental cause for such an increase, experts said economic difficulties many women faced seem to have been a major factor.
"What we are especially concerned about with the pandemic situation is that many relationships have collapsed, while forming new relationships has become more difficult," Lee said. "As the sense of community has been greatly damaged and weakened among people, civic organizations like us are urged to make more efforts to help restore communities so that members of the communities will be able to support and take care of each other."
Women are also facing other difficulties due to increasing online sex crimes targeting them, Lee said, such as those involving spy cameras and illicit filming.
"The country's legal system lacks protections for women against online sex crimes and many Koreans still see such crimes as trivial," Lee said. "Compared to other serious crimes like murder or robbery, sentences for online sex crimes are very weak and the victim protection system is still very poor, while the victims are experiencing a series of damaging effects in their lives related to personal information disclosure and associated social stigma which could even lead to them losing their jobs."
Lee Yoo-lim, president of the Seoul branch of YWCA, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at her office in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, June 22. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
A generational shift and newly emerging gender conflicts also add to the difficulties women are facing, she said.
Lee said although gender equality has seen more achievements in recent years with growing voices from women's empowerment movements, this has also brought a backlash among young men who consider themselves as victims of those movements.
"Many young men these days tend to think that they are being discriminated against by policies supporting women. They say they feel uncomfortable about being considered as potential assailants against women while they are not given the same policy benefits extended to women in employment," Lee said.
Lee said such conflicts are unavoidable when a society is undergoing big changes to achieve gender equality. She said the role of the civic sector is to encourage more conversations among different gender groups, while politicians and the media are urged not to foster gender discord by framing social issues as gender conflicts.
People leave notes on a commemorative wall to honor a woman who was murdered near Gangnam Station in Seoul in this May 18, 2016, photo. Korea Times file
"I believe the difficulties the women's empowerment movement is going through are the proof that society is moving in a direction to achieve gender equality," Lee said, adding that the women's movement in Korea has achieved a lot in the past century.
"YWCA is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year and we see the country's achievements in women's empowerment through the history of our campaigns. While some of the past achievements include job training programs for women, abolishment of the patriarchal family system and support programs for migrant women, we have been focusing on ecofeminism in recent years, which examines the connection between women and nature, emphasizing cooperative relations between nature and people, including both men and women, over competition."