Advocating Rights for Migrant Women in South Korea and Taiwan

• In Event: Migration as a Pathway to New Possibilities: Negotiating Migrant Rights and Identities at the Margins in East and Southeast Asia

Abstract

In recent years, marriage migrants in South Korea and Taiwan have been placed at the center of public debates regarding multiculturalism, demographic decline and social welfare. At the center of these debates is whether or not marriage migrants should be given equal access to citizenship. In both countries, grassroots advocacy groups have organized to secure more rights and equal recognition for migrant women. Marriage migrants and their children in Korea have been celebrated as the newest members of society, while marriage migrants in Taiwan have been regarded as a threat to the nation. What explains the divergence in attitudes toward marriage migrants? In this paper, I argue that the distinct ways by which women’s groups have negotiated women’s rights have shaped policies and public attitudes toward marriage migrant women. Activists in Korea were able to successfully bring attention to the human rights abuses against marriage migrants by relying on previous successes in advocating women's rights, whereas the women’s movement in Taiwan has been divided when it comes to advocating for migrant women as a women’s issue.

Author

• Daisy Kim, University of Southern California