Chat on a Bus
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Over the past three years, 3000 Russian women have arrived in Korea on 'entertainment visas'.
Columban Sister Teresa O'Connell in the course of her ministry often meets with women caught in the web of prostitution. This is the story of two Russian women.
When I arrived at the counter to buy my ticket back to Seoul the woman in front of me was trying to explain that she had handed in 10,000 won for a 2,900 won bus ticket but had only got 100 won change. I asked the woman, a young Russian, if she needed help. The matter was resolved quickly. She said she would like to talk with me in the bus and then asked me if I drank beer. I said no.
Having bought my own ticket I went outside to wait but there was no sign of the Russian or her friend. After a few minutes they appeared with a bag from the nearby supermarket. The bus arrived almost immediately so we got on and sat together. It was then I saw that the bag contained four large bottles of beer. I declined the offer of one. They removed the caps from two of the bottles and began to drink. They told me they had answered an advertisement placed by a Korean company in Russia offering young women a chance to see the world and earn good money. Gina was now eight months in the country while Junia was just four. They had come from Russia as dancers. However, they ended up being forced not only to dance in a way that was demeaning for them, but also to sell drinks to the customers who came to the clubs where they worked. This in turn meant they had to sell sex.
"You know we never drank before we came to Korea, but it is the only way we can cope with what we are forced to do" they told me. As they poured out their stories between gulps of beer I could see the pain in their faces. They had sought to improve their standard of living by leaving home but life had been unfair to them.
As they shared their stories I felt they trusted me as a foreigner in a country that was foreign to all of us. On the one hand we had the common experience of having a different language, of eating food that was not our traditional food and of living in a culture that was different from our own. On the other hand our experiences of life and the purpose for which we came to Korea were very different. I came to Korea more than thirty years ago from Ireland for a healing ministry to the sick and the poor in Korea. The Russian women had come to work and earn money as entertainers. Their hope was to improve their standard of living and to earn enough money to continue their education for life but ended up being trafficked into the sex industry.
As we traveled along their questions came one after another. "Do you know how it feels to dance in front of strangers just wearing a very skimpy bikini? Do you know what it is like to get humiliating remarks from customers? Do you know what it is like to be reduced to being an object that is bought?" "Did you ever see how we have to dance?"
How could they feel anything but stress, anger, frustration and humiliation because of the inhumane conditions of their occupation? These two women, like tens of thousands all over the world, including Western Europe, had applied for a job which they thought would bring them a livelihood but ended up being trafficked for the sex industry. Their trust had been betrayed to such an extent that they wondered if they were still human.
By the time they discover that the advertisements they answered were a deception they are already trapped and have no choice except to work in prostitution. To escape they have to earn money to repay their debt to the trafficker. The debt can range from £2,500 to £22,000 depending on where they come from. Often they do not receive any salary for several months. This also means they cannot afford adequate meals and often have to live on noodles.
"Do you like Korea?" they asked. I said I did but agreed that my experience was very different from theirs. I talked about the sadness I felt at their treatment. So often I feel helpless to do anything to relieve the pain or to stop the trafficking of women for the sex industry." After exchanging telephone numbers and promising to keep in touch we parted ways at the bus station. I continued my journey home with a heavy heart.
I was already familiar with stories like those of my traveling companions because of my own pastoral experience with prostitutes. I was aware that many have to work from 5.00 p.m. until 2.00 a.m. seven nights a week drinking juice with customers and dancing once every hour with little more than underwear on. If they fail to persuade the customers to buy them the demanded quota of 200 expensive glasses of juice per month they have to make up the loss by 'selling tickets' which means offering sex. I had also come across cases where the employer holds their passport and often keeps them under curlew in crowded rooms.
The romantic pictures often painted of red light districts take on a different color when one is confronted by the ugliness that lies behind it. According to an organization here that works with prostitutes 2,150 entertainment visas were issued in 1998 and 4,486 in 1999. In 2000 it was 7,044. Of that total, 3,064 were Russian, of whom over 95% were women. The growth is fuelled by local demand, sex tourism, the increase of foreign military personnel and the poverty of the countries of origin of the women.
When I first came to Korea we tried to respond to the evident needs we saw around us - poverty, health care and pastoral attention. Most of the things we did then are now in the capable hands of Koreans. But my two companions on the bus were a stark reminder that there are other situations where a new category of poor and oppressed people needs to hear a message of hope and liberation.
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/seasia.htm
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/russia.htm