Appendix Life: Ruptured Social Networks Among Korean Human Trafficking Survivors from Comfort Stations

• In Event: 1552 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 2: Trafficking

Abstract

This study explores ruptured kinship networks among Korean human trafficking survivors from World War II comfort stations. Human trafficking not only physically dislocates transmigrants from a country of origin but also disconnects victims from their established social networks. Yet, no study has examined Korean comfort women survivors as a case of diaspora from social network perspectives. This study analyzes eleven oral histories of Korean comfort women survivors trafficked to Manchuria, China to investigate how kinship networks shape a life-course and a quality of life. Conducting mixed method social network analysis, we extracted network data from the oral history data. This study delves into structural ruptures of the human trafficking victims, identifying structural factors that push survivors to human trafficking, their employment of marriage to navigate social isolation, and a key player in a married family network that shapes their quality of life. Majority of respondents were poor and became targeted to human trafficking to Manchuria for financial reasons such as disguised job opportunities. With the end of WWII, respondents were released from comfort stations and immediately struggled with extreme social isolation. Often getting married to a stranger was the only escape solution available for them. Their relationship with husbands is a critical predictor for the quality of later life. Using oral history data, this study demonstrates how the life quality of Korean females trafficked as sex slaves were heavily determined by their family network structures.

Authors

• Eunjae Kim, Korea University

• Eun Kyong Shin, Korea University