Targeting marriage immigrants, in this report, we try to identify the reasons for marital conflicts and domestic violence and to devise plans to enhance a required support system through reviewing existing data and conducting in-depth interviews. The in-depth interviews were carried out with help from experts in victim shelters that have practically supported marriage immigrants suffering from domestic violence. According to our research, their vulnerable positions in the family have easily led marital conflicts to violent incidents. Family conflicts can be summarized as below: First, language and socio-cultural differences have frequently caused women immigrants to experience lack of communication and understanding that can bring about the accumulation of conflicts and emotional explosions. Second, considering that Korea is economically richer than their native countries, differences between their expectations and realities have also given rise to family conflicts. Third, child care issues were observed to have functioned as one of the main sources of family conflicts. Fourth, differences in expectation between husbands and wives have also worked as another cause of tensions and conflicts in their marital relations. Such family conflicts were shown to have frequently led to domestic violence. However, the women immigrants have experienced some what different type of domestic violence than native Korean women. It stemmed from differences in nationality, culture, economic elements, and child-rearing methods.
Domestic violence that marriage immigrants have suffered from can be described as below: First, it has been witnessed in diverse and complicated types. Second, it has taken the forms of psychological, physical, sexual, economic, and cultural abuse. Cultural insults, disregard against foreign culture, husbands’ excessive sexual desire, indifference, and negligence can be cited as more specific examples. It is noteworthy that all of the elements related to the vulnerability of the women in social status. In particular, their instability in legal residence has provided absolute power to their husbands and thereby, is highly likely to force them to maintain miserable relationships in order to meet legal residence requirements. Against this backdrop, flexible policy cooperation in prevention, protection, and implementation is required in order to stop the women from falling victim to such demeanors.
The following plans can be presented in order to improve Korea's current support system for the women. First, reform in socio-cultural attitude is required. Considering the unique nature of such families, appropriate training should be urgently offered to home-visit counselors and related officials in the police or immigration office. Second, a psychological assistance system should be developed for the women. This requires the establishment of communities where native Korean women and immigrants can maintain friendly ties. System enhancements by government ministry are also required to help the women benefit from more effective services. The Ministry for Health, Welfare, and Family Affairs has to make further efforts to prevent domestic violence by providing accurate information to both parties before they get married. Korean language training and employment assistance should also be provided, because they can effectively aid the women in setting up human networks and expanding their rights, and thereby play a pivotal role in controlling domestic violence. Under the current legal framework, the Ministry of Justice can take speedy measures to ensure the legal residence of the immigrants in case they are not responsible for divorces. However, it also needs to implement more efficient schemes to help the victims be aware and make the best thereof, ensuring immigrant women sufficient time to resolve domestic violence issues by extending the legal residence period more realistically. The Ministry of Gender Equality should further expand its domestic violence victim shelters for the marriage immigrants. In addition, more concerted endeavors should be made in order to ensure marriage immigrants' basic rights by providing interpretation services for free, one of the indispensible elements in the support for women.？
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