Korean Domestic Violence
Korean Domestic ViolenceA 48-year old Korean woman, mother of two sons, has been living in Los Angeles for seven years now. On the evening of July 15, 1997, her husband comes home late at night from his financially shaky liquor store in East LA. He is tired and frustrated from the deception of an American dream once promised to him eight years ago. A small negative remark by the Korean woman causes the husband to unleash several strikes to her face with his open hand. She sustains several bruises on her face and a bloody nose, yet she says nothing and accepts the punishment as if it were inescapable event. She goes to sleep that night angered at herself for causing the outbreak and despaired with the fact that she will be offered no guarantees of safety for the next day. Spousal abuse has been a consistent problem in American society. A general survey has shown approximately 4 million cases of domestic violence had occurred in America in one year. Among those 4 million, 95% of the cases are reported to be women. (Ho Kim, 1999, pp.5-7) The common emphasis is on America as a whole, but the situations of Korean American women have been seriously overlooked until recent times. Underneath the vague statistical lines,
Uncovering the details of the cultural background in which they are isolated to can see the perspective of the Korean wife. Korean women have endured the physical abuse involved in this society and the immigrants have brought this to the table of the Korean American culture. I soon realized it was not my family alone, as other Korean American children saw the same at their homes. 9) Their roles are clearly defined as the husband being the breadwinner in the family and the wife remaining home to do the household chores. Bibliography WORKS CITEDGelles, Richard J. With the understanding of the traditional norms and values and the empowerment of women on this issue, an evolution of new values and norms will help alleviate the prevalence of domestic violence in the Korean American family. This highlights the fact that Korean-American women still generally hold traditional cultural beliefs devaluing the role of women. Asian females such as Carole Ching, youth project coordinator for Sacramento-based Asian Resources Inc. I never recognized how different and how grave the situation was for her. Macomb, IL: Western Illinoes University Press. The traditional value of a "good wife" is a wife who will be loyal, obedient and unquestioning to the husband.
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Acceptance Essays
