Abstract
Trafficking in women for forced marriage is a serious violation of women’s rights and a pervasive concern globally. However, empirical studies about trafficking North Korean women for forced marriage in China based on Chinese official documents have generally remained overlooked. Drawing on a sample of 66 court documents involving 222 traffickers and 192 buyers from 2012 to 2020, this study contributes to the trafficking literature by providing an in-depth analysis of the trafficking of North Korean women for forced marriage in China. Content analysis is used to explore (a) the identity characteristics and motivations of traffickers, buyers, and victims, (b) the trafficking procedure, and (c) the division of labor among traffickers and patterns of penalties imposed on the traffickers. Findings suggest that both traffickers and buyers are mainly with low education, without stable employment, and geographically concentrated in Northeastern China. The trafficking process can be divided into recruitment, border crossing, transportation, matchmaking, transfer, and transaction. The implications for research and policy are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this submitted article.
Notes
The CJO is a unified official platform for publishing court documents in China. Cases can be accessed at.
References
Altindag, D. T. (2012). Crime and unemployment: Evidence from Europe. International Review of Law and Economics, 32(1), 145–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irle.2011.10.003
Ashraf, N., Bau, N., Nunn, N., & Voena, A. (2020). Bride price and female education. The Journal of Political Economy, 128(2), 591–641. https://doi.org/10.1086/704572
Bridgewater, P. D. (2005). Ain’t I a slave: Slavery reproductive abuse, and reparations. UCLA Women’s Law Journal, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.5070/L3141017787
Davin, D. (2005). Marriage migration in China: The enlargement of marriage markets in the era of market reforms. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 12(2–3), 173–188. https://doi.org/10.1177/097152150501200202
Davis, K. (2006). Brides, bruises and the border: The trafficking of North Korean women into China. SAIS Review (Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies), 26(1), 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.2006.0004
Farrell, A. (2014). Environmental and institutional influences on police agency responses to human trafficking. Police Quarterly, 17(1), 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611113495050
Garcia, A. B. M. (2018). Denouncing human trafficking in China: North Korean women’s memoirs as evidence. State Crime, 8(1), 59–79. https://doi.org/10.13169/statecrime.8.1.0059
Hee-Soon, Y. (2019). North Korean women and girls trafficked into China’s sex trade. Journal of Trafficking and Human Exploitation, 3(1), 159–178. https://doi.org/10.7590/245227719X15476235096599
Jang, L., & McClelland, S. (2014). Stars between the Sun and Moon: one woman’s life in North Korea and escape to freedom. Douglas & McIntyre.
Jiang, Q. B. (2015). Marriage expenses in rural China. China Review, 15(1), 207–236.
Jiang, Q. B., & Sánchez-Barricarte, J. J. (2012). Bride price in China: The obstacle to ‘Bare Branches’ seeking marriage. The History of the Family, 17(1), 2–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2011.640544
Kabbash, L. A., & Ronis, S. T. (2021). Making a dent in human trafficking: Investigating the effects of social institutions and policies across 60 countries. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 76(3), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09964-z
Kim, S. K. (2014). “I am well-cooked food”: Survival strategies of North Korean female border-crossers and possibilities for empowerment. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 15(4), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2014.972663
Kim, W. K., Lee, H., & Sumner, D. A. (1998). Assessing the food situation in North Korea. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 46(3), 519–535. https://doi.org/10.1086/452356
Kim, E., Yun, M., Park, M., & Williams, H. (2009). Cross border North Korean women trafficking and victimization between North Korea and China: An ethnographic case study. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 37(4), 154–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2009.10.001
Kook, K. (2018). I Want to be trafficked so I can migrate!: Cross-border movement of North Koreans into China through brokerage and smuggling networks. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 676(1), 114–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716217748591
Kragten-Heerdink, S. L. J., Dettmeijer-Vermeulen, C. E., & Korf, D. J. (2018). More than just “pushing and pulling”: Conceptualizing identified human trafficking in the Netherlands. Crime and Delinquency, 64(13), 1765–1789. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128717728503
Li, J., & Li, J. (2021). Bride price and household income: evidence from rural China. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13547860.2021.1940695
Liang, X. C. (2022). Marriage trafficking: Demand, exploitation, and conducive contexts-A study in China-Vietnam border areas. Violence Against Women, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012221094064
Liang, M. C., & Chen, W. (2014). Transnational undocumented marriages in the Sino-Vietnamese border areas of China. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 23(1), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/011719681402300105
Ling, B. (2016). Human trafficking and China: Challenges of domestic criminalisation and interpretation. Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law, 17(1), 148–177. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-01701010
Liu, Z. (2019). Criminal state: Understanding narcotics trafficking networks in North Korea. Journal of Financial Crime, 26(4), 1014–1026. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-08-2018-0085
Liu, W., Qiu, G., & Zhang, S. X. (2021). Easy prey: Illicit enterprising activities and the trafficking of Vietnamese women in China. Asian Journal of Criminology, 16(4), 319–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-020-09327-y
Mah, J. S. (2021). The Sino-North Korea international economic relationship and the economic development of North Korea. World Economy, 44(2), 586–600. https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.12903
Ochab, U. E. (2019). Trafficking of North Korean women in China. Forbes. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2019/07/01/trafficking-of-north-korean-women-in-china/?sh=181a6bc27af0
Pacheco, V. (2022). Discourse analysis of international reporting on human trafficking of North Koreans at the border with China. Journal of Human Trafficking, 8(3), 309–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2020.1823770
Park, K. A. (2011). Economic crisis, women’s changing economic roles, and their implications for women’s status in North Korea. Pacific Review, 24(2), 159–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2011.566349
Qiu, G., Zhang, S. X., & Liu, W. (2019). Trafficking of Myanmar women for forced marriage in China. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 72(1), 35–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09826-9
Riley, N. E. (1994). Interwoven lives: Parents, marriage, and Guanxi in China. Journal of Marriage and Family, 56(4), 791–803. https://doi.org/10.2307/353592
Ruan, X., Ho, Y. Y., Luo, P., & Yu, F. Y. (2015). Marriage, gender, and sex in a contemporary Chinese village. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315702513
Stacey, J. (1983). Patriarchy and socialist revolution in China. University of California Press.
Stöckl, H., Kiss, L., Koehler, J., Dong, D. T., & Zimmerman, C. (2017). Trafficking of Vietnamese women and girls for marriage in China. Global Health Research and Policy, 2(1), 28–28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-017-0049-4
The Supreme People’s Court of The People’s Republic of China (2014). Supreme People’s Court on Publishing Judgment Documents on the Internet by People’s Courts. Wolters Kluwer. https://law.wkinfo.com.cn/legislation/detail/MTAxMDAxMDc5NDA%3D?searchId=4494a37658c44da181bef9c3b9cc2964&index=1&q=最高人民法院关于人民法院在互联网公布裁判文书的规定&module=. Accessed 25 Aug 2022.
Tucker, C., & Van Hook, J. (2013). Surplus Chinese men: Demographic determinants of the sex ratio at marriageable ages in China. Population and Development Review, 39(2), 209–229. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2013.00589.x
Turner, J., & Kelly, L. (2009). Trade Secrets: Intersections between diasporas and crime groups in the constitution of the human trafficking Chain. British Journal of Criminology, 49(2), 184–201. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azn079
Tyldum, G., & Brunovskis, A. (2005). Describing the unobserved: Methodological challenges in empirical studies on human trafficking. International Migration, 43(1/2), 17–34.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). (2020). Global report on trafficking in persons 2020. United Nations. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tip/2021/GLOTiP_2020_15jan_web.pdf.
Wang, H. Z., & Hsiao, H. Z. (2009). Cross-border marriages with Asian characteristics. Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies, RCHSS, Academia Sinica
Wijkman, M., & Kleemans, E. (2019). Female offenders of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 72(1), 53–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09840-x
Xia, Y., Zhou, Y., Du, L., & Cai, T. (2020). Mapping trafficking of women in China: Evidence from court sentences. The Journal of Contemporary China, 29(122), 238–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2019.1637564
Zeng, Y., Tu, P., Gu, B. C., Xu, Y., Li, B. H., & Li, Y. P. (1993). Causes and implications of the recent increase in the reported sex ratio at birth in China. Population and Development Review, 19(2), 283–302. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938438
Zhang, N. (2014). Performing identities: Women in rural-urban migration in contemporary China. Geoforum, 54, 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.03.006
Zhao, G. M. (2003). Trafficking of women for marriage in China: Policy and practice. Criminal Justice, 3(1), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466802503003001457
Zheng, T. (2015). Transnational migration, global links, and social inequality: Human trafficking and North Korean women in China. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, 10(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.18848/2324-755X/CGP/v10i01/53371
Funding
No funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Potential conflicts of interest
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Mei, S. Trafficking North Korean women into China for forced marriage: Evidence from court judgments. Crime Law Soc Change 81, 321–342 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-023-10121-x
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-023-10121-x