<Press conference statement>

 “For women, all of corporation are Hanssem” Brave women,

vicious corporations and a broken system

We, coming together here, have been accusing and fighting for gender discrimination in the labor market. We have demanded fair treatment for women’s labor who are forced to marginalized work and urged the need of decent jobs from the start for youth women. In line with this, we have made efforts to dissolve gender pay gap, to abolish discrimination on placement and promotion, to remove unfair labor practice in regard to child-care leave, and to eliminate sexual harassment/violence at work that women suffers routinely. Testimonies of survivors from sexual harassment at work have been requesting the disciplinary action to perpetrators and prevention measures, together with redressing measures, for sexual harassment at work, gradually resulting in outcomes to some degree toward reinforcing corporation liability and social responsibility.

In recent, sexual violence occurred in Hanssem and Hyundai Card, leading companies, shows how women are used for sexual objectification in a corporation. What outrages us is that the incidents were committed by bosses who have power to make decision on victims’ employment, and the corporations, which is supposed to be liable, is irresponsible in redressing, rather producing other harms against the victims. The fact that the distorted prejudice, which frequently spoken against victims in sexual violence cases, such as ‘Ggotbaem, false accusation, being in love relationship, misunderstanding, and etc, are encountered in cases of sexual harassment at work shows that workplace, for women, is not different from our society which be packed with misogyny.

Above all, the sexual harassment cases occurred in Hanssem and Hyundai Card are not exceptional but represent the actual faces of all of companies and workplace in which women in our society work. more than 53% of women workers of LG Household & Health Care, carrying on a strike for 52 days, experienced sexual harassment, and 72% of them didn’t make a complain about it. They appeared not to trust redress system of the corporation on sexual harassment and testified that they faced employment disadvantage when they disobeyed. We have witnessed, once again, the damage of sexual harassment women undergo at work through the bold testimony of the sexual harassment victim of Hanssem. And we are outraged that the company and society don’t recognize it nor do they make efforts to redress legitimately, rather they use vicious media manipulation to return the responsibility to the victim.

Often women in low occupational status, in non-standard employment, and in young age are victims of sexual harassment but it occurs in any workplace where power relation exists including old ages, managerial positions, professionals. At the Equal Employment Counseling Center, counseling on a sexual harassment case has been skyrocketing over the years. Sexual harassment is not only damaging individual human right of the woman worker but also results in crisis in employment by disadvantageous treatment and dismissal. Therefore it is a serious violation of labor rights.

A notable case is the case of Samsung which violates the article 14 (2) of EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND WORK-FAMILY BALANCE ASSISTANCE ACT which prohibits disadvantageous measures against a victim of sexual harassment, rather incites bullying, exclusion from work, and giving low grade on the performance. The judgment of the court and decision of the Ministry of Employment and Labor on this case has been delayed for 4 years. In the meantime, more damage has occurred. It is the delinquency of duties of the court and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and an organized violence against victims of sexual harassment who has accused, with bold courage, a large conglomerate, Samsung. 

Bold women corrected the broken system.

Yesterday, at National Assembly, the EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND WORK-FAMILY BALANCE ASSISTANCE ACT has been amended with contents to reinforce the employers liability on sexual harassment at work and to strengthen prohibition of disadvantageous treatment against a victim. It is one of the achievements brought by our action to testimony vigorously of, fight and be in solidarity against sexual harassment.

There should be no longer any woman who surrenders or leaves workplace because they are not able to cope with alone. We would stay with bold witnesses to alter the environment of corporations and our society so that corporations and social system all together never tolerate any sexual violence and gender discrimination.

[Statement]

demand government of a comprehensive measure

to eliminate sexual violence and harassment at work!

Last October 18, Moon Jae In government announced <5 year job policy roadmap>. It is an outcome of the government’s prompt action such as announcing forming an employment committee as the first president directive, claiming to be a ‘president for jobs’ and putting job policy as the most priority. At the press release, the government accounts that <5 year job policy roadmap> is ‘to present an action plan over the upcoming 5 years by concretizing job tasks presented in 5 year plan on government affairs, and an policy guideline to establish the direction of job policy in future.’ This newly announced <5 year job policy roadmap> is an indicator to show the philosophy and direction of new government’s labor policy and would influence women thoroughly. Then is the <5 year job policy roadmap> able to get rid of gender discrimination widespread in the labor market? In short, the answer is “No”

This roadmap has limitations in establishing policy, by placing woman as a part of target groups to be addressed, not as underlying agenda, and by limiting the way to address woman(gender) issue only to dissolving ‘career break’ caused by pregnancy, delivery, and child rearing.

However, women’s ‘career breaks’ is due to rather gender discrimination in our society than pregnancy/delivery or child rearing. As woman remain still as a main person in charge of care work at home and there is widespread gender discrimination in the labor market, majority of women work as non-standard workers at secondary work. Since the work is something minor they never feel the lack of the work when they quit, it is an occupation at low position with no future nor promotion, and it is paid only as the same as the cost to be paid for child care center, women can’t help but leave labor market voluntarily and involuntarily. Considered the situation of women’ work, it would be not appropriate to regard it as ‘career break’. It is because, noted when we expect the future we would manage our career, the majority of women don’t even have decent work worthy of being managed for career. From this point of view, it should be prioritized to resolve the matter of ‘employment discontinuity’, not of concern on ‘career break’.

Women suffer over the labor market due to gender-discriminatory culture which tolerates and aids and abets gender discriminatory employment practice. As a result, women are concentrated on ‘bad job’ with low pay and poor working condition. As far as women are concerned, the key of job problem is ‘gender discrimination’ throughout the whole process from recruitment, placement, promotion, and to retirement. Therefore, it should be prioritized to eliminate discrimination against women through rectifying gender discrimination at employment, not through ‘a target customized policy’.  But the announced <5 year job policy roadmap> doesn’t present any plan on this. It is irony that there is no gender equality on policy of government that the president promises to be a feminist. The government must establish gender equality labor policy based on gender equal philosophy!!!

2017. 10. 23

Korean Women Workers Association