Every year, many North Korean women escape to China. However, they face human rights violations in China as serious as those in North Korea. In China's three northeastern provinces, systematic rape, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy are being perpetrated against North Korean defector girls and women over the age of 12. Many North Korean defector women are forced into illegal marriages with Chinese individuals, and no one helps them.

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Lee, a North Korean defector, met a broker who offered to help her escape to China and find employment. 'Lee', who could not bear the poor life in North Korea, believed the broker's advice and went to China at the age of 22. She planned to earn money in China to escape poverty and assist her family. However, as soon as she arrived in China, she realized it was all a lie. She was sold as a 'sex slave' along with other North Korean defector women. She was sold to an old, disabled Chinese man for 20,000 yuan(2,700 dollars).

Kim, a North Korean defector, was sold to a farming village in Hangzhou, China when she was in her early 20s. She was treated as a 'slave.' As rumors spread around the village that a North Korean woman had arrived, many men came to see her. Some days, a person called 'my husband' asked for sex, and on other days, a person called 'my brother-in-law' asked for sex. She was not a family member but a sex slave.

Malicious brokers also sell North Korean defector women to prostitution establishments in the three northeastern provinces of China. The only wish of North Korean defector women is to live ordinary and free lives. The international community must pay attention to the issue of North Korean defector women.

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