Seeds Will Grow

Cross-posting an invitation to attend a webinar (source):

Join us for a webinar on the history of U.S. militarism and camptowns in Korea, and the impact on Korean women.

Jan. 26, 2025 at 8:30pm ET (Jan. 27, 2025 at 10:30am KT).

Studies have long shown that in war and militarism, women are disproportionately harmed and sustain severe human rights abuses. For decades in South Korea, military camptowns surrounding bases have been the site of harm and human rights abuses against Korean women. In 2022, the South Korean Supreme Court found that sex trafficking and illegal prostitution economies existed at U.S. military camptowns from at least 1957 to 2008, and held the Korean government liable for operating and encouraging such prostitution to sustain the South Korea-U.S. military alliance.

This past fall, Korean organizers filed a new lawsuit building on that ruling. The 117 plaintiffs are suing the South Korean government for gender-based human rights abuses inflicted by U.S. forces stationed in Korea (U.S.F.K.). This is yet another chapter in the long history of the disproportionate impact and harm sustained by women in Korea as a result of U.S. militarism.

In this webinar, organizers of the lawsuit as well as scholars will discuss the history of camptowns, human rights abuses against Korean women, and how Korean women have organized to fight for justice. We will hear from South Korean organizer Ko Mira, director of Sae-oom-teo, and human rights lawyer Ha Ju Hee, in a conversation moderated by Professor Ji-Yeon Yuh.

U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib will provide remarks.

English and Korean translation will be provided.

Register Here