The past December 31, 2009, we at the KWWA joined 'one person demonstration to demand to provide unemployment wages for interns' in front of Government's Complex.

Workers had to return their unemployment wages because of the lump-sum instruction by the Ministry of Labor that their unemployment wages have to be unpaid, if workers work for 180 days without Saturdays. Since December 7, one-person demonstration has been carried out everyday to make protests of that instruction, and to demand the government to take more fundamental measures to youth unemployment problems. Organizations such as the Democratic Labor Party, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and individual members have joined the one-person demonstrations.

The tentatively named 'Youth Union' planning the demonstration is a youth NGO aiming at being a trade union which individual youth workers including unemployed youth can join. Modeled by Japanese 'Youth Union,' the NGO (with the membership of about 280, http://cafe.daum.net/alabor) was founded in August 2009, to do a wide variety of activities such as organizing one person demonstrations, forums, lectures and concerts. It has recently begun to buckle down to establish a trade union through collecting its promoters.

Cho Geum-deuk, secretary-general of the Youth Union joining the one-person demonstrations expressed his view for forming strong solidarity with the KWWA, saying "We, a newly formed NGO have many difficulties and problems to tackle including how to organize youth. We'd like to work very hard with  other supportive organizations and our members. Your concerns and eagerness are very valuable."

On December 10, 2009, A ‘press conference to oppose the decrease in budget for social service jobs and call for job countermeasures for women from vulnerable classes’ was hosted by the Korean Care workers NGO Network (composed of by KWWA, People's Solidarity Against Unemployment, Woman Resources Development Centers, Korean Association of Self Sufficiency Promotion, and YMCA Korea).

The Ministry of Labor handed in a budget bill for 2010 which shows large reduction in its supports to social public jobs to 148.7 billion won, by 21.1% compared to those for 2009. Owing to such a reduction plan, the existing social public job projects were mostly excluded and eliminated in the process of the examination and re-examination of social public job projects which have been undertaken since December. As a result, the actual 2 year projects to support social enterprises are left out or have to largely reduce their necessary personnel just around the point of 1 year fulfillment of these projects.

According to 2009 Guidelines for the Exploration of Preliminary Social Enterprises, there was a stipulation that the supports should be stopped if a social enterprise cannot reach a certain ratio of the sales or target sales compared to its total support for one year before the date when the Ministry makes its announcement. However, the government suddenly changed its re-examination standards to ‘by the month before the re-examination was carried out.’ Due to the changed clause, more than a half of the existing projects in the Gwangju and South Cholla Province cannot apply to the re-examination.

While the Ministry of Labor had agreed to support the 2 year social public job projects to assist authorized social enterprises, without any specific reasons it excluded and eliminated social enterprises that have applied to the scheme, and so it is true to doubt if the Ministry is willing to cultivate social enterprises. Moreover, its unclear administration processes such as unfair changes in examination standards, unclear stipulation on the reasons for the exclusion, and the undisclosed selected organizations have driven us more in confusion and puzzles. In particular, due to the concentration of the rejected projects mostly in the care service sector, livelihood of the women from vulnerable classes was highly threatened. That is because they were on the verge of unemployment without any time for them to prepare.

l     Which way should we take:

Korean Care workers NGO Network designed to expand care service into the society and guarantee women’s safe jobs held a press conference to complain about the unfair treatment, oppose the deduction in the budget bill as to social public job projects, and demand the government to set up countermeasures to women’s jobs.

In her prostectus, Kim Jeong-yeon, chairperson of PWWA deplored the matter, saying “On November 30, 2009, 26 women from vulnerable classes became unemployed, who had joined social public job offered by the Ministry of Labor.  They were care workers who had received the real wage of 773,320 won, just minimum wages less than 800,000 won, when their wages were deducted from the payment of the major 4 social insurances.

Through its visiting childcare project, PWWA had provided night childcare service for children in low income family neglected at night. She also emphasized that the one-sided reduction in the number of social public jobs by the Ministry of Labor has resulted in the unemployment amongst the participants in the project, and that this would neglect children of two paycheck couples from low income classes without any measures.

l     Is it that difficult to give the minimum wages to women?

It was really embarrassing for a participant to receive a notice that her contract had been expired just 3 days before her contract was really expired, without giving any time to make preparation. She gave her speech, saying “Even though I am in trouble, I cannot have been sleeping for several days because I am concerned about the child of that single parent that I have taken care of.” She was proud of her job although her job was very difficult since she was sent to a single parent family as a childcare worker. However, she was resentful of unemployment situation of her and her coworkers. She gave full release of her anger and thought if the government’s policies would lead them to all the unemployment.

Hong Hee-duk, a congressman of the Democratic Labor Party who took part in the press conference expressed his view: he was very sorry as a congressman belonging to the Environment-and-labor Commission that he just knew about the unreasonable reasons for the exclusion by the Ministry of Labor and the too speedy unfair treatment. He stated that the budget for the 4 major river restoration project was passed in the Budge and Account Committee, but the budget used by the Ministry of Labor is under examination. He was angry about the reality that the reduction in the budget for the 4 major river restoration is not made at all, while the government gets rid of jobs of those working to look after children of vulnerable single parent families.  He promised his effort to correct the wrong policy in the budget examination of the Ministry of Labor.

Although it was raining, a lot of participants engaged in the social public jobs and driven into the same abyss of unemployment got together to demand the government’s countermeasures. All the participants joined a performance and ended up the press conference: they ripped the papers in which bad policies such as the reduction in the budget for social public jobs were written and threw them into the basket, and instead, they dropped into the basket, the placards containing our wishes such as ▲ achieving a sufficient budget for social public jobs and ▲ setting up measures for women’s jobs.

 On the past November 27, We at Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs (WADLJ) hosted a forum entitled ‘Women’s jobs-and-childcare budgets for 2010 should be like this’ in the Hall of Congressmen.

The National Assembly has currently carried out examination on budgets by sector. This forum was held in the Hall of Congressmen with the help from the office of Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the Democratic Party, in order to let National Assembly members to know our opinions directly.

In the greetings, Kim Sang-hee, a National Assembly member mentioned the forum was meaningful because it is held in a right time when political parties were arguing about budgeting, especially related to people.  She emphasized the need for uniting women’s circle and people to fight with the government’s anti-people and anti-women policies.

Lee Sang-dong, a researcher of the Saesayon made a presentation on the theme of women’s employment trends and issues in budgeting for 2010. He found the employment rate of women in their 30s was stagnant, caused by the expansion of women’s stopped working careers and women’s insecure employment. In order to decrease the wage gaps between men and women, he also highlighted the necessity for making good balances between social policies and employment policies, and further for achieving social security nets as well as employment security nets.

Next, Baek Sunhee, a professor of Social Welfare at Seoul Theological University had a presentation on problems and measures to childcare budgeting for 2010.  She criticized the decrease in most welfare related budgets, and especially childcare related budget which is the most necessary for working women to work securely. She also emphasized that the expansion and increase in public childcare is needed for women to work securely. She pointed out as alternatives, the increase in the number of childcare facilities, expansion to universal childcare systems, the expansion of substantial supports to two paycheck couples, and effective maintenance of childcare fee support systems.

On the past November 18, we at the KWWA held a workshop entitled ‘Women workers, meet social economy based on reciprocity and solidarity’ in its underground training center.

Through her presentation, Lim Youn Ok introduced our social public job projects and social economic activities that we at the KWWA have practiced to tackle women’s unemployment and poverty issues increasing under the strong wind of neo-liberalism for 10 years from the Korean economic crisis in 1989 up to the current economic crisis. Our social economic activities include social enterprises, community coin movement, and credit union activities. The social economy is generally defined as ‘social economic activities carried out not by companies or nations but by the 3^rd sector such as nongovernmental organizations or foundations to realize the social purpose for benefiting communities’.

We searched for development methods as well as found what significances the social economy movement gave to the lives and work of women workers and what changes were made, through in-depth interviews with the total number of 32 women workers. The research outcomes showed how independently they have led their lives and solved their problems in terms of jobs, consumption and financial issues, based on the principles of sharing, cooperation, reciprocity and solidarity in their communities rather than relying on assistance by the government and market.

Next, case studies of the National Cooperative of House Managers (NCHM), Credit Union and Exchange of Hope carried out by the KWWA were presented.

Date and venue: at 10:30am on November 12, 2009, in front of the tent strike placed in front of the National Assembly.

The government and the ruling party announced the immediate enforcement of the Trade Union Act and the Labor Relation Mediation Act which prohibit full time unionists from being paid and the unified negotiation window in case of the introduction of multiple workshop-based trade union system.

In last April, the ILO recommended to solve the issues related to wages of fulltime unionists through the autonomous and voluntary agreement between workers and users. Nevertheless, the government spread the distorted truth that ‘there is no country where companies pay full time unionists’ in order to ‘terminate the Korean labor movement.’

Presently, small-size company-based trade unions with their union membership of less than 300 accounted for over 87% out of the total number of 4,900 trade unions in Korea. However, in fact there would be no full-time activists in trade unions with their union membership of less than 300 or union membership fees have to be raised to pay a fulltime union activist, if the present acts are put into effect. Since the wage levels of workers working in a small-size company with less than 300 workers are not high enough to support the increases in their union membership fees. It means there will be no full-time activists in most trade unions at last. Further, it will be clear that union negotiation and activities will be largely withered due to no fulltime activists. Under the current situation in which most women workers work in the companies employing less than 300 workers, the government policy will have negative influence on women workers’ circle.

The policy to unify the negotiation window in the case of the introduction of multiple trade union systems means that the right to negotiate with the company will be given to only one trade union if two or three trade unions exist in a company. If so, the isolated trade unions will lose their bases, and serious conflicts amongst workers will be caused to obtain the right to negotiate collectively. In conclusion, the unification of negotiation windows will eventually cause conflicts amongst workers, and further, it will be a very poisonous article because it violates the freedom of association as well as infringes the basic labor rights.

On the past November 18, the KWWA invited Dr. Christine Bergmann, former Minister of Women of Germany and held a debate forum with her on the theme of Neo-liberalism and women’s policies, focusing on measures on women irregular workers between Korea and Germany. The forum was begun with the keynote presentation by Dr. Christine Bergmann who visited Korea to share German experiences and to grasp situations of Korean women workers. She started her address saying “I am surprised that many young women join this meeting together.” Dr. Bergmann from the former East Germany was a former Minister of Family, Elderly, Women and Youth when a progressive government under Prime Minister Schroeder came into power in Germany, and currently has been working as a director of The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

Dr. Bergmann said “Germany and Korea did not reach the state of ‘paradise’ in relation to women’s work.” She described as ‘paradise,’ an ideal state in which women and men both can work and live happily. It is women who make up most irregular workers in Korea and take ‘insecure jobs’ in Germany, both. In the case of Germany, women had a hard time due to their low wages and long working hours like us in Korea. In the former East Germany, women’s employment rate reached up to 90% before the unification, which shows women’s active role as major income earners.

After the unification with West Germany in which males are considered as major bread winners, there has been no change in the male employment rate, but there have been a lot of differences in women’s cases: That was due to the job distribution between women not the job distribution between men and women.

Dispatched jobs, involuntary part-time jobs and mini jobs are classified into insecure jobs in Germany, and amongst them, German women largely concentrate on mini jobs. Mini jobs are mostly provided in the service sector, and workers engaged in mini jobs cannot be covered by social insurance. In addition, they are very low paying jobs whose wages cannot account for two thirds of the average wages in Germany. Dr. Bergmann underlined realistic wages to help to maintain the livelihood of low-wage workers rather than the government’s subsidiaries.

Dr. Bergmann told us that Germany is one of the countries that do not enact the minimum wage system. However, according to a German research one out of 5 women workers is able to demand her or his wage increase if 7.50 Euro is decided as the German minimum wage. In case of the U.K. after the introduction of the legal minimum wage system, she pointed out the decreases by between 16.1% and 10.8%, in relation to wage gaps between men and women who were full-time workers from 1997 to 2006.

l     “The nation is responsible for childcare and the provision of education facilities.”

In the case of the former East Germany, high employment rates of men and women, both were due to social atmospheres, and further because of state’ supports for childcare, running work-site childcare centers across the nation.

Since women in West Germany were not seen as major householders, and moreover there is a great shortage of social supports for women’s economic activities and social recognition, it was very difficult for West German women to balance women’s jobs and family work, which was shown by an idiom, ‘the crow mom’. After the unification, Germany is presently struggling with a low birth rate of 1.4%, even though it is higher than that in Korea. Dr. Bergmann emphasized the need for stabilizing women’s jobs in order to increase birth rates.

Why German women have to take low-paying part-time work including mini jobs is in the shortage of general childcare facilities. In Germany, due to women’s stoppage of working careers caused by childbirth and childcare, women have to re-enter to low paying jobs. She stressed that the entire social system should be provided to raise children.

l     Suggestions to construct the ‘paradise’ where women can work securely:

After Dr. Bergmann gave a speech about general conditions of women’s employment in the former East Germany and in Germany after the unification, she made suggestions to stabilize women’s jobs as follows: ▲ the social recognition of women’s jobs should be enhanced: values of traditional care work should be re-appreciated and proper wage lines should be set; ▲ involuntary part-time work should be decreased; ▲ childcare facilities should be increased; and ▲ additional social protection should be prepared in the sectors in which social insurances are not covered. 

After the keynote presentation, Dr. Eun Soomi, a penal, working for the Korea Labor Institute made a presentation on the women’s labor market in Korea, as follows: ▲ Korean women experience their stoppage in their working careers at their ages of 30 ~ 34, and re-enter to the labor market offering poor jobs; ▲ gender occupational segregation; ▲ the increases in the number of poor jobs such as irregular jobs; ▲ women’s low employment rate of just around 50%; and ▲ increasing gaps in terms of wage, job welfare, and social insurances. These issues have been worsening for the past 10 years.  Dr. Eun suggested the changes in the government’s policy stances for women, expansion of social security nets, reinforcement of public childcare and education systems, and pro-active activities of women’s circles. 

Jo-Lee Yeo-ul of ilda, a womenist journal approached women’s economic difficulties from the perspectives of housing and education as well as labor issues. She pointed out “people tend to see labor and prostitution separately. Teenagers who run away from their homes are likely engaged to sex industries because they had difficulties in achieving economic independence and housing.  She also criticized the current Korean state in which parents usually have to carry the burden of high private education expenses for their children due the overheated private education, regardless of their income levels.

The last penal, Dr. Hong Mihee (head of Women’s Policy Center belonging to Incheon Development Institute) pointed out no relationship between educational levels  and women’s participation rate in economic activities in Korea, while the higher educational levels, the higher participation rate in economic activities in Germany. She concluded that Korean women with high educational levels evaded from the labor market after their marriage, and it is difficult for them to re-enter the labor market because of the shortage of the number of jobs available in social service sectors even though they want to. 

We at the KWWA provided leadership enhancement training for middle-ranking activists entitled ‘Emptying and recharging for tomorrow’ for 3 days between October 29 and 31, 2009 at the Jirisan Mountain.

Approximately 20 full-time activists who have been working over 2 years had a good chance to reckon on our structure and take a rest for better tomorrow on the title of good rest and introspection.

Above all, we had good talks about life, peace and living in the community with Monk Dobup from the Silsangsa Temple.  There is its thread of connections with our vision, ‘equality, peace~’, helping us to think over and find solutions.

As the second program, we practiced partner yoga and meditation. We presumed that we might have to stretch a lot, but this partner yoga was to practice one by one with our partners, learning to rely on and care partners.  It was a good time for us to relax ourselves who had been tired from our daily tasks.

On the second day, we had a time to take a walk around the village.  Olle trail routes on Jeju Island already became very famous, but Dulle trail routes in the Jirisan Mountain began to be known by word of mouth.  Even if it was a trail around, because all trails in the Mt. Jirisan are tough, participants complained that it was hard like climbing a mountain. However, when people went over the Deunggu-jae Hill, participants were so fascinated at a beautiful village surrounded by terraced fields.  The landscape was so beautiful and charming that we forgot all our troubles: there were uninhabited taverns; old people were so kind that they gave us soft persimmons free; and grasshoppers hopped and flew in the field. We won’t forget all the beauties.

In the evening on the second day and in the morning on the third day, both, Jeong Moon Ja, chairperson of the KWWA, conducted a workshop entitled ‘Checking myself and our organization for searching for hopes’. In this session, we had a time to think about various visions of ourselves and our organizations, including myself that I identify as my image; myself that my coworkers consider as my image; my organization that I consider; agonies and worries and concerns that only full-time activists work over 2 years for the KWWA have.

Escaping from our daily routines and putting down our loads as middle-ranking activists, we were able to have a valuable time to look back ourselves and have good communications with others in the arm of Mother Nature for 3 days.

On October 22, 2009, women’s and environmental groups including KWWA, KWAU, Women Corea, and Korea Federation for Environmental Movement held a press conference to demand the government to “enact rice aid for North Korea in order to tackle the decreasing rice price,” in front of the Ministry of Unification.

Women farmers shaved their heads to demand the government to guarantee the price of rice and also went on a sit-in strike in front of the National Assembly. A woman farmer pleaded for supports to Korean farmers, saying “Many people ignored us when we tried to distribute our leaflets.  People think it is only Korean farmers’ matter, but at last it will be all ours.”

Women’s organizations and environmental groups demanded the government to ensure constant rice farming to Korean farmers, since rice related issues are matters on our sovereignty and all of our matters. They pointed out the needs to resume rice aids to North Korea and further, the prompt enactment of the aids.

On past October 17, we gathered for ‘National women’s day of action for decreasing the budget for 4 major river restoration and increasing livelihood-and-welfare related budgets’ in Seoul.

We, full-time workers and members from women’s organizations in the Seoul Metropolitan area got together and publicized our demands on decreasing the budget on 4 major river restoration and increasing budgets on public livelihoods and welfares, dressed up cutely with various tools including hand pickets.

We started the rally, tapping djembe, African drums and shouting ‘Stop deducing taxes of the rich’ and ‘Stop the 4 major river restoration project.’  Although our tapping was not so excellent, our rhythmic sounds from the djembe made us joyous.

The opening speech made by Jeong Moon-Ja, chairperson of KWWA was followed by the comments entitled “Women have talks about budgets for 2010.” A reserve teacher who is employed as a temporary teacher denounced governmental policies and budget on women’s jobs: she complained about poor working conditions of temporary administrative workers working at schools because schools do not give proper tasks and positions to them; and she also revealed the sad reality that the government has continued to employ only temporary (4 month-fixed) teachers instead of regular teachers although the number of regular teachers is in great shortage. In addition, a university student let us know her agonies caused by her high university tuition fees and unemployment rates among the young. President of the Pucheon branch of the NCHM also insisted on the application of 4 social insurances so as to provide job security for care workers.

Members from the Ansan Women Workers Association expressed our demands through ‘Superman’, a Korean pop song with changed words and dances, which cheered us up a lot. Although the words were somewhat radical, participants liked the song so much because the words reflect our hard reality very well.

After that, a vice president of 참교육학부모회 talked about the governmental budget on education: she criticized the government for the reduction of necessary budgets on education including educational welfare, while it made great investment in English immersion education programs.

Lastly, Lee Kang-sil, standing chairperson of the Women Corea who made the last address about the current situations was furious because people have to pay the state debt, likely to surge up to 407 trillion won; she also deplored the Korean reality in which the Korean government collects taxes from the pocket of people while it reduced the taxes for rich people, although governments in other countries impose higher taxes on the rich, if tax revenues are not enough.

“Shift the budget on 4 major river restoration to those on women’s jobs, education and livelihood!!!”: we from women’s organizations and environmental groups finalized the rally with a performance to withdraw the governmental policies of 4 major river restoration and tax reduction for rich people and to allocate the budget for women’s jobs, education and public livelihood.

This rally, sponsored by the Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs (WADLJ) composed of 39 women’s organizations, was begun from October 17, 2009, and lasted to November 15 for a month across the nation.

On October 13, 2009, a forum entitled ‘Increasing care jobs, but hidden sexual harassment’ was hosted. There are increasing social demands on care jobs, and also women are concentrated in this sector.  The KWWA did research on sexual harassment against care workers as a mean of encouraging care workers to obtain their rights to work. We at the KWWA shared pains and difficulties of sexual harassment victims in practice and urged the government to prepare for sexual harassment prevention polices and legal solutions through the forum.

The presentation on sexual harassment against care workers was followed by discussion by a researcher, women workers in the workplaces, and officers from the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, and after that, very active and dynamic discussions were carried out amongst the audience.  A variety of good ideas came out to share tough situations of care workers and to prevent and regulate practical measures on sexual harassment. The forum was assessed as a good chance to share seriousness of sexual harassment against care workers and to discuss active solutions by many local care work-related groups.

<Content Summary>

A survey was conducted to grasp the issues related to sexual harassment against care workers.  34.8% of respondents answered that they had had sexual harassment. The fact shows care workers are not safe from sexual harassment. Since one care worker is hired by 4~5 clients a month on average, it was found that 41% had had sexual harassment by more than two offenders; and up to 73.9% had experienced more than once. Since clients (users) are usually the same people, having regular and constant relationship, sexual harassment issues against care workers are very serious and crucial.  Sexual harassment issues should be tackled urgently.

The research showed that 37.8% requested help to their staffing agencies; 32.3% endured the terrible situations; and 21.3% complained to their clients.  The high rate of support requests to their staffing agencies means that the agencies should take active action to tackle sexual harassment against care workers. As the major reasons why care workers endure, 44.7% answered ‘they could do so, because my clients were sick’; and 24.9% ‘I consider this as common because I have often had during my care work.’ The respondents replied that they had to endure because of the characteristics of care work, which shows that care workers view sexual harassment as a feature of in-home care work.

54.5% identified ‘clients did not take it seriously’ as the reason why sexual harassment has not been tackled even though they took action, which shows that sexual harassment issues cannot easily be tackled because clients do not consider this matter as sexual harassment. As countermeasures, 24.5% answered ‘care workers should receive regular sexual harassment prevention education’; 23.5% ‘codes of conduct should be formulated and so clients should receive education on that’; and 21.3% ‘the care service related administration should take action to prevent sexual harassment.’ We can see the demand on the provision of sexual harassment prevention education for clients as well as the need for the provision of sexual harassment prevention education targeting care workers. Additionally, the authority concerned (the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs) should put efforts to tackle sexual harassment against care workers as the government’s feasible countermeasures are demanded strongly due to the characteristics of care workers’ workplaces.

As seen from survey results, we looked at characteristics of in-home care services, detailed sexual harassment that care workers go through, and their responses to sexual harassment through analyzing in-depth interviews, in order to know the reasons why the issues are not visible but the number of victims has been increasing although sexual harassment against care workers is very serious. ‘Homes’ as private spaces where in-home care services are given are comfortable to clients, and workplaces to care workers, and so they can be not only spaces of intimacy but also closed places.  Due to these features, in their houses service users (clients) can expose their sexual desires easily to care workers, because their faults can be concealed although they sexually harass care workers. Hence, the ‘house’ is the place where sexual harassment against care workers is immanent. Experienced care workers with long work experiences see their ability to endure sexual harassment wisely as their know-how.  Due to the hidden characteristics of in-home services like this care workers do not take sexual harassment seriously. Hence, this issue is not socially addressed.

Care workers have various kinds of sexual harassment such as verbal, physical and visual ones, as we usually know. Largely male clients talked a lot about sex related matters to care workers. These kinds of talks are parts of the exposure of their sexual desires made to care workers. Their verbal sexual harassment related to sex is normally extended to physical and visual sexual harassment. There are certain patterns of sexual harassment against care workers: care workers are targeted not only for sexual harassment and romantic relationship but also for ‘introduction of women’ to them.

Care workers take sexual harassment against themselves as individual matters, viewing the matters as their faults.  They confessed they had endured sexual harassment by their clients, saying “I don’t usually take small matters seriously.” Otherwise, they cannot continue their job. Care workers usually accept their patience as their know-how and usually put spells on themselves, believing offenders as their ‘patients,’ in order to endure sexual harassment. As seen the above, individual women workers take this as a personal matter, endure a lot and suffer from the pain a lot.

When care workers view sexual harassment too serious, they request their employment agencies to give a help to them. Since the agencies are the closest to care workers in the workplace, sexual harassment issues are revealed or hidden depending on the attitudes, awareness levels, and responses of the agencies. Even though the agencies take active action to sexual harassment, it is not feasible in practice if clients ‘stop receiving care service’. That’s because clients committing sexual harassment move to use others, and so sexual harassment issues are not tackled and further second and third victims are produced. Accordingly, the authority concerned which plans and manages the care sector should recognize this issue seriously and take countermeasures to address sexual harassment.

Care workers who had in-depth interviews are commonly affectionate toward their jobs. Actually, care work is very precious to them, because it is one of a few jobs which can be offered to middle-aged women. If sexual harassment against care workers is not tackled, amongst care workers there is high negative recognition of care work, which will not be developed into a decent job or guarantee high quality of service, either. Only when care work is reborn as a decent job, high quality of service for clients is ensured.

<Policy suggestions>

-Sexual harassment prevention act is needed to change bad service users into feasible and decent clients; 

-Sexual harassment prevention education should be given not only to victims but also clients;

-Care services subjects including the authority concerned should be aware of sexual harassment issues and try to make solutions.