Countries: North Korea
Variables: WAM-PRACTICE-1

"While women in North Korea are highlighted in state propaganda as 'cogs in the revolutionary wheel of society,' in reality they are expected to fulfill the role of 'faithful housekeepers.' Given the patriarchal nature of North Korean society, traditional gender roles are deeply ingrained in North Korean society, with women expected to prioritize family and domestic duties over personal or professional ambitions. These cultural attitudes reinforce gender inequalities in many aspects of life. It should come as little surprise that North Korea’s leadership and state-run media play an important role in imposing traditional roles on North Korean women" (para 9-10). "North Korean women’s attitudes appear to have been affected by...more

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ASR-PRACTICE-1

"The survey also found that restrictions are in place that limit women to certain fields of study, such as teaching, nursing, and accounting" (para 11).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: DLB-DATA-1

"This situation helps explain why the survey found that women in North Korea are most likely to take on the role of 'raising children' (25.6 percent) and 'supporting the household economy' (22.2 percent) in order to contribute to the development of society" (para 11).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ERBG-DATA-3

"[O]nly an estimated 5-10 percent of women in North Korea remain in the workforce after having children" (para 13).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: LBHO-LAW-1

"The North Korean government claims that women have the right to participate in politics and that women hold leadership and decision-making positions in government and other institutions" (para 7).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: LRW-DATA-1

"Recently... Daily NK, with the support of the Embassy of Canada to the Republic of Korea, conducted a survey of 30 North Korean women inside the country, as well as 10 North Korean defectors, to delve deeper into the state of women’s rights in North Korea. The results were alarming: More than half of the respondents reported sexual victimization by officials in state institutions such as the national police agency and correctional centers, while a staggering 73 percent said they had encountered instances in the workplace, military, or markets where officials coerced, cajoled, or tricked them into having sex in exchange for promotions or business opportunities. The findings lend credence...more

Countries: North Korea
Variables: MULV-LAW-1

"In addition, the survey showed that women in North Korea are significantly affected by the country’s system of 'non-tax burdens.' This system refers to irregular or semi-regular mandatory contributions imposed by the regime, including everything from cash to firewood. The survey found that women are asked to help pay for construction projects in Pyongyang, provide funds to build neighborhoods in their areas, and raise funds to send to the military, which is focused on advancing the country’s nuclear program. Women who do not work (only an estimated 5-10 percent of women in North Korea remain in the workforce after having children) are also required to be members of the Social...more

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-1

"Indeed, the survey provides further evidence that North Korean women are often directed toward careers deemed more suitable by the state, such as teaching or healthcare, rather than fields such as science or technology" (para 11).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-3

"In interviews in Human Rights Watch’s 2018 report “You Cry at Night but Don’t Know Why,” North Korean students and teachers explained that in mixed gender classes boys were almost always made leaders and that male teachers usually made decisions in schools, even though the majority of teachers in the school were women" (par. 3).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ERBG-DATA-3

"North Korean students and teachers explained that in mixed gender classes boys were almost always made leaders and that male teachers usually made decisions in schools, even though the majority of teachers in the school were women" (par. 3).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ERBG-DATA-1

"The wages of North Koreans in official, state-approved ordinary workers’ roles are capped at pre-1990s prices, equivalent to an average of seven to nine kilograms of corn per month, which were eclipsed by market vendor earnings. Many North Korean women became the primary breadwinners of their families" (par. 10).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: AW-PRACTICE-1

"According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, 81 percent of North Korean escapees in 2019 were female, prior to the Covid-19 related border closure. This can partly be explained by the decreased scrutiny women face compared to men in North Korea, as men are required to go to state-run workplaces while many married women stay at home to care for the family. . .Still, the Chinese government routinely labels North Koreans as illegal “economic migrants” and forcibly repatriates them under a 1986 bilateral border protocol. The 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report on the human rights situation in North Korea found that North Korean escapees who are forcibly repatriated...more

Countries: North Korea
Variables: ABO-PRACTICE-1

"The 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report on the human rights situation in North Korea found that North Korean escapees who are forcibly repatriated face systematic torture, arbitrary detention, and sexual violence, including invasive body searches and forced abortions, that amount to crimes against humanity" (par. 8).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-1

"Traditional Confucian patriarchal values remain deeply embedded in North Korea. Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system that is strictly hierarchical and values social harmony. In such a society, a woman’s position in society is lower than a man’s and her reputation depends largely on maintaining an image of “sexual purity” before marriage and obeying the men in her family" (par. 2). "Girls learn they are not equal to boys and cannot resist mistreatment and abuse, and that they should feel shame if they become targets of abuse by men, whether in the home or in public spaces" (par. 3).

Countries: North Korea
Variables: DV-PRACTICE-1

"Others have stated that the stigma surrounding the victims of sexual violence and harassment prevents women and girls from seeking redress. Survivors of sexual assault lack the language itself to describe what happened to them, an issue compounded by the lack of public sex education in the country" (par. 6). "Notably, during North Korea’s CEDAW Committee review in 2016, one government official did not even seem to understand questions about 'marital rape' or what the term meant, and asked the committee to explain it. The same official also claimed that punishments for superiors coercing women into sex should be much less than in cases of rape involving outright physical violence,...more