The KWAU was founded in February 1987. It was made up of
left-wing, pro-labor
feminists in the wake of the
sexual assault charges brought by
Kwon In Suk against the Korean government. The women involved were a diverse group of
blue-collar workers,
clerical workers, professionals,
housewives, college students,
rural women and poor women living in cities. KWAU was also connected to the
minjung movement and the national democratic movement. This period involved a focus on women's rights. This focus included an emphasis on a few areas in the fight against inequality including lifelong equal work, the protection of maternity, sexual violence as the violation of human rights, and the pacifism of women. Some of the original organizations of KWAU included the Women's Society for Democracy, the
Korea Women's Hot Line, the ''Women's Newspaper
(now the Women's News''), Korean Women Workers Association, Korean Catholic Farmers, Women's Committee and others. KWAU directly opposed the military Jun government and participated in the struggle against these forces which it saw as leading the country in a wrongful manner. KWAU was significant in that it, unlike other women's groups in Korea at the time, took an "oppositional stance toward the repressive state" run by
Chun Doo-hwan. KWAU worked to not only bring women on an equal footing with men, but also worked to transform the social structures which were oppressive to women. This led to the government announcing "substantial proposals against sexual violence including legislation of a special law." By the mid-1990s, the women's movement was largely focused on advancing its agenda through a "woman's perspective" of viewing society. In 1994, KWAU shifted its objectives slightly and worked to promote the cooperation between women's organizations in an effort to create unity. Women's welfare also saw an increased role in the goals of KWAU during this time. The strategies utilized to further these objectives included lobbying for the passage and improvement of laws and institutions that promoted women's rights and interests, implementing programs for women's welfare and female workers in general, and advocating for certain programs that enhanced national unification. In this process, Chi Eun-hee, the then President of KWAU resigned her position to join the administration ultimately becoming the Minister of Gender Equality. This appointment allowed Chi Eun-hee to implement the feminist agenda in close consultation with active members in KWAU at the time. Another example of this increased influence was
Han Myeong-sook, who was a past president of KWAU and was appointed Minister of the Environment. == See also ==