| Description: | | In May 2005, a female North Korean refugee hiding in China sent this plea for help to an operative in the underground railroad. An estimated 200,000 North Koreans have escaped to northeast China, looking for food, fleeing for their lives from prison camps or political persecution. Some of them are Christians who the Kim Jong-Il regime targets for the worst torture, or are relatives of an arrested person, fleeing for their own safety because when one person is accused of a crime, all members of the family are arrested and imprisoned. Women and children are increasingly the majority of refugees crossing the river into China. If they can locate a friend or relative's house, they have a chance at finding a safe haven. But if the ethnic Korean Chinese traffickers find them first, they are abducted and sold, either to men as informal wives or concubines or to karaoke clubs for prostitution. Their price and destination are determined by their age and appearance. China's one-child policy has resulted in a deficit of women from selective abortions, infanticide, and the selling off of girl babies. Kidnapping and trafficking have become common ways that Chinese men acquire women. The women are raped by sellers and buyers. |
|
