Korea Has Long Way to Go for Gender Equality

Gender Equality Minister Byun Do-yoon says she will make her first priority supporting women getting jobs, especially those from low-income families and immigrants in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times.

/ Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Immigrant Women Will Also Get Help for Landing Jobs

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

In Korea's this male dominated society, it's still hard for women to land jobs and hold on to to them. They are often the last to be employed and the first to lose jobs when their employers carry out restructuring. Breaking this pattern is the primary job championed by Gender Equality Minister Byun Do-yoon.

She said there is long way to go before Korean society shifts to one that is truly equal in terms of gender.

``A lot of men nowadays crack a joke that Korean women's social and economic status has already outstripped that of men. Despite some improvement, our society is still dominated by males, especially in the top echelons of society,'' Byun said in an interview with The Korea Times. ``I believe helping women land more jobs will be an important factor for the elevation of the social status of women.''

Byun, 61, said the ministry plans to help about 37,000 women land jobs this year. At the same time, it will provide counseling and training services for some 100,000 female job seekers.

``I will put my first priority on supporting women get jobs, especially those from low-income families and immigrants. I will do my best to help the underprivileged,'' Byun said.

Under her leadership, the ministry will designate 50 employment centers nationwide for female job seekers. The centers will provide women, who had to quit their jobs due to childcare or for other reasons with career counseling and job training as well as recommendations to employers. Two counselors and five career designers will work at every center.

In particular, the ministry will introduce a ``Housewife Internship'' program, with 500,000 won being paid to those who participate in the program for three months. The minister has recently secured an extra budget for the program ― enough to benefit some 4,000 married women who have to earn money to sustain their families.

``We need to encourage more women to participate in economic activities,'' Byun said. ``We will continue to help them keep their jobs with comprehensive childcare programs as well.''

The ministry will put greater emphasis on building a women-friendly environment at workplaces. It has signed contracts with major companies to expand the corporate culture of gender equality. ``We cannot force companies to treat men and women equally in personnel management. But many employers, who are free from gender stereotyping, realize that they could make more profits by efficiently using female employees. We will promote those companies as good examples,'' Byeon said. ``It will boost the competitiveness of Korea in the end.''

The status of women will be upgraded if more job opportunities are given to women.

The ministry has drawn up a ``Gender Sensitive Budget'' system, to eliminate elements discriminative against women.

``We have educated and trained government officials, and 25 government agencies have applied this system to 108 state-run projects,'' Byeon said.

A gender-sensitive budget plan requires the government to prepare a mandatory analytic report on how the budget will affect men and women equally. It helps the government be more sensitive about gender before planning a budget.

Welfare for Migrant Women

Byun said she will take all the necessary steps to improve the human rights of migrant women married to Korean men. ``We don't have much knowledge and understanding of immigrant women, although they are playing a greater role in our society,'' Byeon said.

She said they are maltreated and assaulted due to culture differences. ``Not only foreign women but Korean spouses need education in forming harmonious families.''

Therefore, the ministry has been offering information related to interracial marriages and human rights so that Korean men can better understand about immigrant women. It has increased by five-fold the number of participants for education to 2,560 this year from 526, last year.

Foreign women who are suffering from domestic violence can get help by calling the emergency help center for immigrant women at 1577-1366 around the clock throughout the year. The center provides legal and medical services in eight foreign languages including English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai and Cambodian. Also, the number of shelters for those foreign women suffering from domestic violence will be increased to 14 this year from four.

The ministry will also expand support programs for disabled women and use welfare centers to counsel and help them find jobs. Centers fighting sexual violence and shelters for sex assault victims will be expanded for underprivileged women. Currently, there are 19 counseling centers and two shelters.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr

Who Is Byun Do-yoon?
Born in Hwanghae Province, North Korea in 1947, Byun graduated from Chung-Ang Girl's High School and obtained bachelors degree in social work and masters degree in labor policy from Chung-Ang University in Seoul. She has been committed for more than 30 years to creating jobs for female workers and caring for underprivileged women. She was director at a center for women workers between 1978 and 1992 and president of the National Council of Women Resources Development Center for three years from 1997. She served as the Seoul Women's Plaza president between 2002 and 2006.

Byun was also secretary-general for Seoul YMCA and is now chairwoman for planning department at the organization. She took up the ministerial post in March, last year.