By Kim Bo-eun
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Thursday it would boost its efforts to protect the rights of marriage immigrants here, most of whom are women from Southeast Asia. It is seeking to help prevent domestic violence and expand support for these women.
The ministry came with the measures in a briefing to President Moon Jae-in at the Sejong Government Complex.
It said it will provide more detailed information on living in Korea to those who plan to immigrate to marry, and raise awareness of their rights. The ministry also said it would provide spouses and other family members with sessions helping them learn how to protect their rights.
Currently, there are around 270,000 foreign spouses in Korea, 85 percent of them women.
While there is no state data on domestic violence for multiracial families, the Danuri Call Center for marriage immigrants receives over 40,000 calls a year about domestic violence.
Meanwhile, the ministry will also help the marriage immigrants become financially independent, by expanding subsidies and offering counseling and services to help them find employment.
In addition, as a means to counter comprehensive gender-based violence, the ministry will strengthen crackdowns on illegal video clips including hidden camera footage.
It is reviewing measures to punish those who circulate such videos and make them pay for the costs of deleting the clips online.
The ministry will also establish a system in which victims of hidden camera crimes will receive assistance in investigations, in deleting footage online and get financial support for lawsuits.
It will push to establish laws on preventing gender-based violence and punish stalkers. At the same time, it will seek to prevent hidden-camera based crimes through education and campaigns.
Moreover, the ministry will also aid women with children in getting back in the workforce.
With the aim of increasing the employment rate of women in their 30s to 63 percent by 2022, it will also work to prevent the women from having to quit their careers if they become mothers, by expanding family-friendly policies at workplaces and providing greater support in state child care.
The gender ministry will work together with the labor ministry to offer comprehensive services in helping women get jobs.
The finance ministry will lower taxes from the current 10 percent to 30 percent for companies which hire women who have been out of the workforce taking care of their children.
The gender ministry, and the labor ministry, will also attempt to narrow the income gap between male and female workers.
“The government must provide comprehensive services for women who have been out of the workforce because they were taking care of their children so they will be able to find new jobs,” President Moon said. “Fundamentally, we need pan-governmental policies which create a social environment in which women are able to get married and raise their children while working.”