NCJ Number
220119
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 13 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2007 Pages: 901-922
Date Published
September 2007
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article looks at the three types of trafficking that were connected to the U.S. military bases in South Korea.
Abstract
The findings reveal that U.S. military bases in South Korea have served as a hub for transnational trafficking of women from the Asia Pacific and Eurasia to South Korea and the United States. U.S. troops have used an estimated 1 million Korean women in prostitution over the past six decades. The women from South Korea were trafficked by U.S. servicemen to the United States where they were used in prostitution or massage parlor circuits. A significant number of Korean women in massage parlors in the United States were former wives of U.S. servicemen. The findings reveal that the widespread tolerance of prostitution in bars around the U.S. bases in South Korea and the massage parlors around the United States fuel the demand for women, resulting in increased trafficking of women. This article examines a 2002 study that provided evidence that U.S. military bases in the Republic of Korea formed an international hub for trafficking of women for prostitution and related forms of sexual exploitation. The traffickers recruited and transported women to meet the demand that was largely created by U.S. military personnel and civilian men in South Korea and the United States. No research studies existed prior to this one on the trafficking of women from Korea, or trafficking of Korean women that involved U.S. servicemen. Thirty-six interviews using open-ended questions with social service providers, activist organizations, law enforcement officials, reporters, and a researcher in the United States and South Korea. The interviews included 19 law enforcement officials, 10 social service providers and/or activist organizations, 6 reporters, and 1 researcher. All interviews were conducted by telephone in August, September, and October 2002. References