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 Over the years a number of organizations have attempted to list the " worst countries for women ," often to coincide with dates such as International Women's Day.One immediate challenge: What makes a country "worst for women"? Some researchers focus on humanitarian issues, others on educational attainment and literacy rates. Then, of course, there are health statistics to consider, as well as cultural biases and economic conditions.And no matter how accurate the underlying data are, numbers can only go so far in telling us what real women experience on a day-to-day basis.Those caveats aside, one interesting modern metric for understanding gender relations around the world is the U.N. Development Program's Gender Inequality Index . This index measures achievement differences between men and women in three categories: labor market participation, empowerment (including education and political representation at the national level) and reproductive health. Perfect equality is zero, perfect inequality is 1. According to the U.N., the world average rank is 0.56.Here are the five countries with the highest (that is, worst) scores on the 2008 Gender Inequality Index, the most recent ranking available.This small country in the southwest Arabian peninsula earned a Gender Inequality Index rank of 0.853, the highest of any studied by the U.N. A 2009 Amnesty International report highlighted the "violence and discrimination" faced by many Yemeni women.The Congo ranked 0.814 on the Gender Inequality Index. According to international aid group Women for Women , violence has not ended despite the official conclusion of a brutal civil war in 2003, and women continue to be devastated by rape, famine and disease.This western African country scored 0.807 on the U.N. index. A 2010 report showed that 1 in 7 Nigerian women will die in childbirth, compared with 1 in 4,800 in the United States.Mali was just behind Niger on the index, ranking 0.799. Recent efforts to improve women's legal standing in the country were met with protests and street demonstrations Some observers worry that women's rights are not a priority for Afghan leaders -- or the Western powers trying to develop a strategy for the region. Afghanistan ranked 0.797 on the U.N. Gender Inequality Index.Which nation is considered the best for a woman to live? The Netherlands got the lowest (best) score, 0.174.As for the United States, it scored 0.400, coming in behind Croatia (0.345) and Lithuania (0.359) but ahead of Estonia (0.409). ||||| [The police] told my husband not to hit me so hard and they told me to behave properly, bear it, and not upset him so much. Then [the police agents] left, and he hit me more and I stayed as quiet as I could. 
 
 She also recounted an incident of a winter night in 2013 when a dead woman’s body was found on the side of a road in the outskirts of her city in North Hamgyong province. Her cousin’s friend, who was a police officer, told them the woman had been raped and her bike and possessions taken away. The policeman said they managed to catch the perpetrator because he still had the bike. He was sent to ordinary prison camp (kyohwaso) for ten years. But even a police officer didn’t seem to understand that rape deserved prosecution and a substantial prison sentence. She said the police officer told them: “In reality, it was a murder case, not a sexual assault case, that’s why the police investigated, and the criminal was sent to prison for such a long time.” 
 
 Case of Yoon Mi Hwa 
 
 Yoon Mi Hwa, a former trader in her thirties from North Hamgyong province, escaped North Korea for good in 2014. She said she had suffered sexual abuse by the police prison guard in charge of the temporary holding center (jipkyulso) in Chongjin when she was detained there in 2009 after a previous attempt to flee to China. She told Human Rights Watch that one night the police guard asked her to go to the interrogation room.[129] She said: 
 
 He touched my face, breast, and other parts of my body over and underneath my clothes. But he was young and junior, so he’d go back to questioning right away. 
 
 But she said there was another violent guard who every night would take the prettier or younger girls for interrogation: 
 
 Rape and violent beatings were rampant at the Chongjin holding center (jipkyulso). Every night some woman would be forced to leave with a guard and be raped. There was an especially horrible police guard, who later I learned was famous for his cruelty. Every day, whenever new inmates, arrived he’d find a reason to violently beat up one of the prisoners, so everybody would know that you must obey him no matter what his requests were. Click, click, click was the most horrible sound I ever heard. It was the sound of the key of the cell of our prison room opening. Every night a prison guard would open the cell. I stood still quietly, acting like I didn’t notice, hoping it wouldn’t be me the one to have to follow the guard, hoping it wouldn’t be him. 
 
 Yoon Mi Hwa said she was lucky none of the police guards picked her on one of those nights. But she heard about other women were raped in the same place between 2009 and 2013. In 2013, she met a woman in Chonggori ordinary prison camp (kywohwaso) who had passed through the temporary holding center (jipkyulso) in Chongjin and was raped by the same violent guard who had raped other inmates when she was there. 
 
 Yoon Mi Hwa said: 
 
 In 2013, I got to know another prisoner who had just arrived at the Chongori kyohwaso. She had been forcibly repatriated from China and arrived there passing through Chongjin jipkyulso. That was a very common stop on the way. As we spoke, I remembered the fear I had of the violent police guard and asked her if he was still there. She cursed him and said he had raped her. He was still there and was still just as cruel. 
 
 Case of Cho Eun Byul 
 
 Cho Eun Byul is a former trader in her thirties, who left the country from North Hamgyong Province in 2014. In 2013, a prosecutor had detained her for questioning in Sonbong, North Hamgyong province. She used to give him bribes in order to have good relations with him and prevent him from investigating her deals with Chinese traders. She even bought him a motorbike. Sometimes he would touch her breast through her shirt and kiss her on the cheek. One day he asked her to come into his office and then made further sexual advances, touched her body, and took out a sexual device.[130] She told Human Rights Watch: 
 
 He violently [sexually] assaulted me. I rejected him. Suddenly, he started touching my skin and body. He told me I should let him do whatever he wanted, and he’d let me trade freely. Then he took out a sexual device. When I refused him, he took out his belt and started hitting me. He felt pleasure whenever he heard me scream. I was brutally beaten. My lips busted open. He stood in front of me, [exposed himself], and continued hitting me. I kept on resisting, so he kept on hitting me with his belt, I screamed and fell onto the floor, he tried to [rape me]. We struggled for hours from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m…. He felt pleasure hearing me yell. 
 
 After being assaulted by the prosecutor, Cho Eun Byul went to see the secret police (bowibu) officials in Sonbong district that she knew well. The officials told her that because the perpetrator was a prosecutor they couldn’t get involved and she needed to go to the regional office, so she went to see the Rason city secret police. She reported the case and the official asked her to put it in writing. 
 
 Instead of taking action against the prosecutor, the regional secret police (bowibu) officials took her into custody and detained her. She was held for four days in a cell, where the door was opened only to deliver food. She said: 
 
 On the fourth day, a bowibu official said, “I heard your breast is very soft, is it true your breast is soft?” The moment he said that I thought, “Oh no! What if I am also abused by him too?” He said: “I heard your skin is white as the skin of a Russian woman, is it true your skin is very soft?” I said: “I’m sorry, I was wrong. Please let me go home. I have a baby at home. Please let me go.” I cried. Then he gave me a document. He said: “Do you know a place up hidden in the mountains called political prison camp? If you don’t want us to take you and your daughter into this hidden prison in the mountains fill out this document and sign it.” It was an agreement not to tell anybody about [the prior sexual assault]. So, I just filled it out and was able to go home. 
 
 She went home and never told anybody else about what happened. 
 
 Rape and Sexual Violence against Women Engaged in Trade 
 
 Markets selling food and consumer goods have flourished in North Korean villages, towns, and cities since the government allowed them to develop in 2002, but the market system functions in a legal gray area, its regulation dependent on local dynamics, the interests of traders and local officials, and central government directives from Pyongyang. What is allowed or not allowed can be interpreted in different ways depending on the specific situation or the influence, desires, or perspectives of the officials involved.[131] The lack of clear rules or regulations leaves women vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Although market traders are mostly women, most of the officials who manage the markets, or are responsible for law enforcement within the markets, are men.[132] 
 
 According to former North Korean traders, who left after 2011, and eight former high-ranking officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch, market traders are often compelled to pay bribes to officials and market regulators. But for women, the bribes are not just monetary, and can include sexual abuse and violence, including rape, by perpetrators including government officials who take advantage of the coercive environment of the market, the absence of punishment, and the victims’ fear of being shamed or punished.[133] 
 
 The UN COI report concluded that “officials are not only increasingly engaging in corruption in order to support their low or non-existent salaries, they are also exacting penalties and punishment in the form of sexual abuse and violence as there is no fear of punishment. As more women assume the responsibility for feeding their families due to the dire economic and food situation, more women are traversing through and lingering in public spaces, selling and transporting their goods.”[134] 
 
 Many of the men who sexually prey on women in this situation are government officials, including high-ranking party officials, managers at state-owned enterprises, or gate- keeper officials of the markets and roads, such as police, secret police (bowiseong) agents, soldiers, and railroad inspectors on trains. The cost to a woman of refusing a sexual advance by an official may include confiscation of goods and money, increased future scrutiny, or punishment, including being sent to labor training facilities (rodong danryeondae) or ordinary crimes prison camps (kyohwaso) for being involved in market activities, and losing access to prime trading locations. It may also include being fired or overlooked for jobs, being deprived of means of transportation or business opportunities, being considered politically disloyal and relocated to a remote area, and increased risk of physical or sexual violence.[135] 
 
 Official checkpoints on roads are also places where sexual harassment can take place, perpetrated by soldiers from the Korean People’s Army, police, or local party officials. Several traders described male officials at checkpoints conducting intrusive body searches of young women traders, including touching their back, chest, and legs, spending more time checking around their breasts and hips, and sometimes underneath their underwear.[136] Women also told Human Rights Watch that they saw female traders being taken away by a security official, and then returning after 30 or 40 minutes, before being allowed to pass through the checkpoint.[137] Lee Bom Ee, a former trader in her 30s who left North Korea at the end of 2011, said: 
 
 It was so common that guards on the road or in any crowded areas would touch all parts of my body all the time, so it never occurred to me that could be something wrong.[138] 
 
 Because of the gender and age restrictions in government-allowed marketplaces (jangmadang), many young traders must engage in distribution or regional trading. To do so, they travel extensively in order to purchase goods, move them from one region to another, and sell them. Because of the poor conditions of roads and the railway system, traveling long distances in North Korea can take several days. Traveling from one region to another also requires official permits issued by the government, which usually are given only for official travel. For this reason, many traders travel in North Korea without legal permits, making them highly vulnerable to demands for bribes and sexual favors by police, railroad inspectors, and other officials, who often check riders to try to catch those without written permission. Those found without such permission can be subject to punishments like confiscation of goods or imprisonment. In order to avoid such sanctions, women tolerate sexual abuse and demands for bribes. 
 
 The UN COI report stated, “the male dominated state, agents who police the marketplace, inspectors on trains, and soldiers are increasingly committing acts of sexual assault on women in public spaces” and noted that it had “received reports of train guards frisking women as they traveled through the cars and abusing young girls onboard.”[139] 
 
 Kim Mi Jin, a former trader in her 30s from North Hamgyong province, said she often experienced sexual abuse by gatekeeper authorities until she left the country in 2013.[140] 
 
 She said: 
 
 “Law people” could always find an excuse to touch my body, breasts, arms, or face. Sometimes over my clothes, sometimes underneath. Once a police official inserted his finger [in my vagina]. It was common for the different types of market inspectors we encountered while trading to [say they] needed to search women’s bodies for security reasons. We knew it wasn’t true and they either wanted money or to touch our bodies. Even if you travel with a legal permit, which most don’t, when a train inspector or a police or secret police officer approaches you, you have to be as nice as you can. My heart stopped until they moved away.[141] 
 
 Kim Mi Jin said she never thought there was anything she could do to stop the abuse. 
 
 Ten former traders and three former government officials told Human Rights Watch that men think women have an advantage because they can provide sex in exchange for favors.[142] “Many of our fellow male traders tell us we [women] are lucky to have this weapon. They say, now smart women must use this weapon as much as they can and maximize our advantage,” explained Lee Boom Soon, a former cigarette trader in her 40s from North Hamgyong province who left in 2005. “I never replied. I just felt bitter inside.”[143] 
 
 Human Rights Watch interviewed four women who experienced sexual violence, including sexual harassment, assault, and rape, as well as verbal abuse and intimidation, by market gate-keeper officials, and seventeen women who were sexually abused or experienced unwanted sexual advances by police or other officials as they traveled as part of their work as traders.[144] 
 
 Case of Oh Jung Hee 
 
 Oh Jung Hee is a former trader in her 40s from Ryanggang province. She sold clothes to stalls in Hyesan city and distributed textiles in her province. She said that until she left the country in 2014, guards would regularly pass by the market to demand bribes and favors, sometimes in the form of coerced or forced sex.[145] She said: 
 
 I was a victim [of sexual assault] many times. On the days they felt like it, market guards or police officials could ask me to follow them to an empty room outside the market, or some other place they’d pick. What can we do? They consider us [sex] toys. We [women] are at the mercy of men. Now, women cannot survive without having men with power near them. 
 
 She said she had no power to resist or report these abuses and that it never occurred to her that anything could be done to stop such unwanted behavior except by trying to avoid such situations. Oh Jung Hee said: 
 
 You never know how it starts, but [when you are in crowded areas] you always end up having a man’s hand or body part touching your breast, your back or some part of your body. I was scared of reprisals, so I’d act as if I didn’t notice and move away. 
 
 It happens so often nobody thinks it is a big deal. Men who sexually assault women don’t think it is wrong, and we [women] do not either. We don’t even realize when we are upset. But we are human, and we feel it. So sometimes, out of nowhere, you cry at night and don’t know why. 
 
 Oh Jung Hee’s husband, Kim Chul Kook, a former university teacher in his 40s from Ryanggang province, said traders like his wife and himself have to accept that sexual coercion of women by men in power is part of social and market dynamics in North Korea.[146] He said: 
 
 Corruption is so rampant that anybody without power has no choice. Female traders like my wife, workers, and especially women in prison must do anything their superiors, like police, party officials, investigators, or guards ask them to do. Agreeing to whatever request will be followed by potential benefits, and denial by certain loss and unknown retribution. Traders like my wife have to accept that sexual coercion [by men in power] is part of social and market dynamics. It is the only way to survive. There are possible unknown benefits to having close relations with government officials but rejecting or pushing away a man in power who approaches you can come at a high cost for the family’s future and survival. 
 
 He said he never talked about this with his wife, but that they were both aware of how the markets work and how she needed to adapt. He said: 
 
 We are pragmatists. We know how the society works and we need to adapt and survive. I know what I know, but we don’t talk about it, and I couldn’t say it with my own words. 
 
 Kim Chul Kook described a childhood friend who became a high-ranking party official in the local government, saying that friend regularly had what were called “close companions,” usually traders with whom he had sexual relations. Not long before Kim Chul Kook fled North Korea in 2014, his friend told him that he had become close to a married woman in her thirties. The friend started giving the woman business tips and told police and other party officers close to him they should not bother her. He gave her presents like a big screen television and rice wine. 
 
 One day, the woman’s husband heard about the liaison and went to complain to the party official, who became annoyed and cut off his relationship with the woman. Soon after, she lost most of the business projects she was engaged with at the time. The man and his wife had their goods confiscated several times and became the target of government monitoring and crackdowns. Kim Chul Kook later heard they moved to a smaller house but didn’t know exactly what happened. He said they likely lost all of the money she had made. 
 
 Case of Choi Dal Mi 
 
 Choi Dal Mi, a former trader in her 20s from North Hamgyong province, escaped North Korea in 2014. She said she was sexually assaulted several times by police officials and train inspectors between 2010 and the time of her departure.[147] She said: 
 
 I had heard many stories [of rape and sexual assault] and had been traveling for trading for some months. I knew how things worked in the market. I knew female traders often were forced to give their bodies to “law people,” especially if you were young. The first time, it was a truck driver… I just thought: “Oh! It is happening!” It wasn’t just the truck drivers, but also the officials checking train tickets and patrol police guards that notice you. Having sex with men who have power over you or letting them touch all over your body is a necessity to survive. It never occurred to me that I could or would want to do anything about it. It was just how things are. 
 
 Choi Dal Mi didn’t report the assaults. She didn’t know anybody who had ever reported a case of sexual assault to the authorities. She said: 
 
 The police themselves are [sexually] abusing women, why would they ever investigate any rape case? Everybody knows the authorities think that [being raped] is the women’s fault, why would she spit on her own face and tell anybody something like that? The cost of rumors spreading is too high. 
 
 She remembered that, in 2009, the body of a woman was found naked in the roadside in the outskirts of her hometown in the northern part of Ryanggang province. She had been raped, her body was full of bruises and cuts, and her bags were stolen. The police investigated the case but could not find the perpetrators. 
 
 She said: 
 
 This is the only case I remember in which the police investigated a case like this. But it only happened because it is a murder case, not just because she was raped. 
 
 Choi Dal Mi said one of her trader friends told her she was raped in 2008 by a customer she had visited in Ryanggang province when selling vegetables. Choi Dal Mi said her friend told the wrong person about it, and everybody in her town learned about it. Villagers blamed her for it: 
 
 For weeks, people in her neighborhood talked about the incident and blamed her for going to his house. Nobody said anything about him. Nobody said anything about how she needed to go house to house to be able to sell and make money. But female traders quietly warned each other to avoid that house. It is common among traders to talk about who is rumored to be a rapist, what man is violent inside or outside the house or who is in a “close relationship” with a man in power. These all influence our safety and trading activities. 
 
 Case of Park Sol Dan 
 
 Park Sol Dan, a former trader in her 40s from Kangwon province who left North Korea in 2014, said until she left the country it was common to experience or witness unwanted sexual advances from persons on trains like ticket inspectors, police officers, and secret police officials. These men on trains regularly groped women, including her, while checking their documentation or conducting security checks for illegal products.[148] 
 
 In 2012, Park Sol Dan was traveling with her daughter, who was in her early 20s, on a train to Chongjin when she suddenly couldn’t find her daughter. She was scared for her daughter and rushed to find her, and believes she managed to prevent her daughter from being raped. She said: 
 
 I went around to look for her. I found her in the [train] ticket inspector’s room, he had asked her to give him a massage. I entered the room and luckily managed to show our official travel permits, thank them while smiling, and left the room with my daughter. 
 
 In 2012, on her way to Chongjin by train, Park Sol Dan passed through the police officials’ car and saw police officer having sex with a female passenger. She said: 
 
 When I saw them, I just thought: “Poor woman. She is too pretty, or maybe didn’t have enough money to pay a bribe.” It is impossible this relation is consensual. In that situation, the environment is so coercive that women have no choice but to give in to anything that is requested from us. There, you can even think it is your choice, but the cost of rejection is very high. If this woman had met this same man in Seoul, where she has a choice, she would never have had sex with him. 
 
 Case of Lee Bom Ee 
 
 Lee Bom Ee, a former trader in her 30s who left North Korea at the end of 2011, told Human Rights Watch she experienced unwanted sexual contact with police officials, soldiers, and train inspectors.[149] She said: 
 
 Once I even saw a soldier at a road checkpoint taking away a [female] trader and returning after 30 or 40 minutes. We try to not to think about it, but everybody who sees knows, she was forced to “give her body.” It is the only way to survive. 
 
 Lee Bom Ee said the only way to avoid being a victim of extortion or unwanted sexual contact while conducting market activities is to give up hopes of expanding one’s business and barely scrape by, be born to a powerful father with money and connections, marry a man with power, or become close to one. 
 
 She said: 
 
 I got so tired of being taken advantage of and constantly losing my trading goods, I decided to marry a gangster. After that, no other men dared touch me and even if my things were confiscated, many times my husband would get them back. 
 
 She recalled one day in the spring of 2006, when her traveling companion bumped into a train ticket inspector from her hometown. He helped her, Lee Bom Ee, and two other companions find a better spot to sleep and stored their bags safely. But then later that night he lay down next to the woman from his hometown on her train berth and forced her to have sex with him. Lee Bom Ee explained that when the train inspector approached the companion, rejecting him was unimaginable because they could have been kicked out of the train, lost all the goods they were transporting as well as the money they were carrying, and been detained, investigated, or targeted for future harassment or arrest. She said: 
 
 All her traveling friends knew but nobody said anything. But everybody was relieved they had a “friendly man” who could take care of them. After some time, they developed a close relationship. They cared about each other, arranged business trips together, and shared the benefits. Do I believe they would have gotten together if she had been in a world with a choice? I don’t think so, but in North Korea such choice doesn’t exist. They were still in a relationship as of 2015. 
 
 Lee Bom Ee also explained that most female traders travel in groups of four, five, or six when taking long journeys by bus or train to protect themselves from theft and assault. She said: 
 
 At least when we go in big groups, people that pass by may try to covertly touch our bodies, but they will not attack us or steal from us. 
 
 She explained that in 2009, a trader from her community was raped, badly beaten, and had her bags stolen by a stranger in an isolated area. She arrived back in the city all bloody and reported the rape and the theft. Rumors about the sexual assault spread through her community. Lee Bom Ee said: 
 
 The police didn’t do anything about it, but every time he drank, her husband started beating her up for being raped. Eventually they got divorced. Because of the social stigma, people got scared of getting too close to her, so it became harder for her to find travel companions and do business. 
 
 Two years later, shortly before she left in 2011, one of Lee Bom Ee’s regular travel companions told her she had been recently raped. One night when she was returning home with a big bag on a bike after dark, a man who was standing on the road stopped her, raped her, and stole her bag and bike. Afterwards, she just cleaned herself up and went home. She did not report the incident to the police. Lee Bom Ee said: 
 
 I felt terrible. But I remembered what had happened to the other trader, so I just told her she needed to be strong and that it would be best not to tell anybody. 
 
 IV. Lack of Government Response to Sexual Violence 
 
 The North Korean government told the CEDAW Committee in July 2017, that in all of North Korea only nine people were convicted of rape in 2008, seven in 2011, and five in 2015. A handful of other men were convicted of forcing a female subordinate to have sexual intercourse: five in 2008, six in 2011, and three in 2015.[150] 
 
 In its report, the UN Commission of Inquiry emphasized that sexual and gender-based violence are prevalent through all spheres of North Korean society, but the state provides victims almost no protection, support services, or recourse to justice.[151] Most of the North Koreans who spoke with Human Rights Watch said despite laws to protect women, police and security forces consistently behave as though sexual violence against women is not a serious crime. The interviewees said it was almost inconceivable that a woman would even consider going to the police to report sexual assault, especially since members of the police, the party, prison guards, and soldiers are often the perpetrators of such violence.[152] 
 
 Of the cases of sexual violence against women and girls documented by Human Rights Watch, only once did the victim try to report the sexual assault against her.[153] The other women said they did not report their experiences to the police because they did not trust them and did not believe the police would be willing to take any action. They feared that reporting the abuse would result in retaliation against them rather than punishment for the perpetrators. 
 
 In cases where family members or close friends knew about the woman’s sexual assault, those confidants also discouraged them from reporting to authorities what happened.[154] The eight former government officials we spoke with, including a former police officer, said women fear reporting sexual abuses cases, and the rare cases that are brought to the police typically are reported by third parties and not by the victims themselves.[155] 
 
 The North Korean women and men interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that they could not remember a case where a victim herself reported a case of sexual violence to the police that was then properly investigated. Five North Korean women who left North Korea after 2011 and four former government officials said on rare occasions authorities act against state officials committing acts of sexual violence, most often when the victims were killed or suffered particularly severe physical injuries.[156] But they said the consequences rarely include imprisonment for the perpetrator. Instead, punishments entail demotion, loss of position, or being exiled to the countryside or a mine. But at the same time, they noted female victims also face blame and suffer retaliation.[157] 
 
 Five former high-ranking officials said when the authorities do investigate allegations of sexual violence, it is often for political reasons.[158] Song Sang Hyun, a former teacher, said he had heard an officer in his old army battalion was demoted for having sexual relations with a subordinate in 2007. Fellow officers of the battalion told the former teacher the punishment of their demoted colleague was part of a politically motivated scheme by those aiming for his position. In the following collective criticism session, soldiers and participants criticized the officer’s sexual perversion and improper sexual behavior, and alleged anti-state behavior as well.[159] 
 
 According to three former female traders and three former government officials, instead of investigating complaints of violence against women, police sometimes interrogate victims in abusive ways.[160] 
 
 Baek Min Joong, now in his 50s, a former manager at a state-owned enterprise in South Pyongan province who left North Korea in 2011, vividly recalled an incident in the summer of 2010: a female employee of his appeared in public bloodstained, wearing no bra, her clothes cut into strips. Many people saw her, and she went to the police station and reported she had been raped. The police started an investigation, but soon after, she asked Baek Min Joong, as her manager, to stop a specific police officer from contacting her. The officer had questioned her several times, and each time he asked her sexually explicit questions about how the rape happened, demanding details about the experience of forced penetration and how that felt. The investigation ended after Baek Min Joong asked the officer to stop harassing his employee.[161] 
 
 Kim Chul Kook, a former professor, recalled one night in 2014, drinking with a childhood friend who had become a high-level police agent in Ryanggang province. His friend told him that his colleagues at the police considered themselves lucky when a rape case came to their attention.[162] He explained: 
 
 They thought the rare situations in which they investigated rape cases were better than red entertainment (porn), especially if they had some free time on their hands. 
 
 In 2012, Kim Chul Kook went to visit his police friend, who was meeting with a high-ranking party official accused of raping the daughter of a powerful family. He said: 
 
 I remember hearing my friend scolding the party officer through the thin wall: “This is a headache. You should manage things better. Why can’t you keep the situation quiet?” The girl was blamed for making a fuss, but the family had influence, so the official was demoted and sent to a remote rural area, although he did not go to prison. 
 
 All of the North Koreans Human Rights Watch interviewed described widespread impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence and lack of justice for survivors. A combination of factors, including North Korea’s dysfunctional criminal justice system, the perceived lack of will and capacity on the part of the police to record and investigate allegations, fear of retaliation, corruption, deeply embedded patterns of discrimination against women, and social stigma hinder women’s ability and willingness to file criminal complaints and have them processed. The lack of gender-based violence awareness, protection, and support mechanisms create insurmountable barriers for women seeking justice or compensation. 
 
 Lack of Psycho-Social Support and Other Services 
 
 The North Koreans who spoke to Human Rights Watch said the North Korean government does not provide any type of psycho-social support services for women survivors of violence or their families to help them overcome stigma or fear, or cope with the consequences of violence. They also said that the use of counselling and other mental health services is itself highly stigmatized.[163] 
 
 North Korea’s historically patriarchal society makes it difficult for survivors of violence against women to speak out about sexual abuse without being stigmatized or blamed. 
 
 Access to psycho-social support services is important, not only for women who are raped, but also for members of their immediate family and community. Most of the women who were raped or sexually abused told Human Rights Watch they tried to conceal abuse from their husbands or relatives because they feared social stigma and further mistreatment. 
 
 There are no safe houses or shelters in North Korea for victims of family or sexual violence. The UN Women Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women recommends that countries should, when possible, provide one shelter/refuge place for every 10,000 people, and that these facilities should provide safe emergency accommodation, qualified counselling, and assistance in finding long-term accommodation. The handbook also recommends ensuring there is one specialized woman’s advocate or counsellor per every 50,000 women, and one rape crisis center for every 200,000 women.[164] 
 
 Cho Byul Me, a former smuggler, explained sometimes she had to run away from her house when her husband started beating her up, but had nowhere to go. She said: 
 
 Eventually I’d just have to go back home and wait outside the door sometimes in the bitter cold, under the snow or the rain, until I’d think he had fallen asleep. I had nowhere to go and I would have left him if I had anywhere to go.[165] 
 
 Lack of Medical Treatment 
 
 In addition to the absence of psycho-social services, there are no protocols for examination and treatment of female victims of sexual violence, either for purposes of therapeutic care or to secure evidence of crimes. Two former North Korean doctors and a nurse who left North Korea after 2010 said they never saw “rape kits,”[166] knew of no training programs for medical practitioners on the medico-legal aspects of sexual assault, and had never heard of sexual assault forensic exams, or saw a rape victim go to the hospital to receive treatment.[167] 
 
 Sexual violence is an important concern in every country. If the paltry number of prosecutions reported by North Korean authorities show anything, they show their utter failure to address sexual violence in the country. They certainly do not show North Korea to be the violence-free paradise authorities like to tout. 
 
 The usual challenges victims of sexual violence face in getting basic treatment are amplified in North Korea by heightened fear of stigma, lack of available services, lack of awareness, and financial barriers. The rape victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch said it did not even occur to them they should go to the hospital or get any kind of test to collect evidence. Park Young Hee said that when she was raped–on four different occasions–she washed herself and just went on with her life. “It would have only occurred to me to go to the hospital or see a doctor if I had gotten pregnant. But I knew I wasn’t.”[168] 
 
 V. Recommendations 
 
 To the DRPK Government: 
 
 Law Reform 
 
 Reform national legislation to create clear and enforceable provisions within the Criminal Code covering all forms of violence against women–including sexual assault, sexual coercion, rape, and marital rape–and increase penalties to be more commensurate with international practice for laws that currently provide for only nominal punishment of rape of girls and of sexual violence in the workplace; and ensure active and vigorous enforcement of this law. 
 
 Establish protection measures for all victims of sexual violence, including shelters, mechanisms of redress, identity protection for victims and witnesses throughout the process of investigation and trial, free legal representation, and social services. 
 
 Review or abolish provisions of the Law on the Protection and Promotion of Women which reinforce women’s subordinate role in society by excluding them from certain studies and professions. Adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for any member of the judiciary implicated in cases of sexual violence against women, with perpetrators dismissed and prosecuted. 
 
 Gather credible data on the numbers of complaints, charges, investigations, prosecutions, and convictions in cases of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as sentencing data. Publicly release this data. 
 
 Law Enforcement 
 
 Issue clear and binding public orders to all members of the government– including police, the secret police ( bowiseong ), the armed forces, judges, lawyers, managers at state-owned enterprises, and party officials–that rape and other acts of sexual violence must be promptly and thoroughly investigated and prosecuted. 
 
 ), the armed forces, judges, lawyers, managers at state-owned enterprises, and party officials–that rape and other acts of sexual violence must be promptly and thoroughly investigated and prosecuted. Immediately suspend, discipline, dismiss, and–when appropriate–prosecute public officials, including police, secret police ( bowiseong ), military officers, or party officials, accused of sexually or physically abusing women, as well as those who fail to protect victims. Investigate all such cases and, where appropriate, bar alleged perpetrators from public service positions and criminally prosecute them. 
 
 ), military officers, or party officials, accused of sexually or physically abusing women, as well as those who fail to protect victims. Investigate all such cases and, where appropriate, bar alleged perpetrators from public service positions and criminally prosecute them. Establish a vetting system for government personnel, police, and soldiers to exclude past perpetrators of sexual violence against women. 
 
 Conduct training for all law enforcement, health, and education professionals on gender equality, the right of victims of sexual violence to report abuses, and the duty of public officials to refrain from exploitation and assist victims in obtaining help and justice. 
 
 Ensure that law enforcement policies and training are in line with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Handbook on Strengthening Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses to Violence Against Women and the UNODC Handbook on Effective Police Responses to Violence against Women . 
 
 and the UNODC . Develop mechanisms to protect the identities of victims of sexual violence. 
 
 Require police to rigorously investigate and prosecute sexual violence cases, regardless of the position or status of the alleged perpetrator. 
 
 Investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute those persons responsible of crimes of rape and other sexual crimes in ordinary prison camps ( kyohwaso ), political prison camps ( kwanliso ), and against women forcibly returned from China. 
 
 ), political prison camps ( ), and against women forcibly returned from China. Support recruitment and significantly increase the percentage of female government officials, including lawyers, police, prosecutors, and judges; ensure they are not discriminated against in promotion decisions once working there; and offer gender-sensitivity training to all in these professions. 
 
 Recruit and assign female officers or guards to supervise female detainees; ensure that female detainees are held in compliance with international standards, specifically the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (“The Bangkok Rules). 
 
 Sign and ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, and afford the protection envisaged therein to North Korean women trafficked to China and repatriated to North Korea. 
 
 Health Sector 
 
 Develop government health and social services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, including counseling, medical assistance, and programs to help women to overcome stigma. 
 
 Train health care providers to detect cases of sexual violence and deliver confidential and comprehensive medical treatment and psychosocial support to all such victims. 
 
 Establish reproductive health and sexual education programs, and basic education on core issues of non-discrimination. Provide training to individuals and communities to reduce the stigma of and prejudice against sexual violence victims, and encourage providing care, treatment, and support to these survivors, for example through the Women’s Union. 
 
 Ensure healthcare providers have “rape kits” on hand, are trained in the use of these kits, and collect and document all evidence of sexual violence in a confidential manner, utilizing procedures that will permit the evidence to be preserved and admissible in court in criminal proceedings. 
 
 Develop programs to equip hospitals with medical supplies to provide post-rape care in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) standards and ensure that all facilities have procedures in place to respond to sexual violence, including Postexposure Prophylaxis (PEP) kits. 
 
 Develop sensitivity training for government officials, including police and other security officers, regarding sexual and gender-based violence and how to treat survivors. 
 
 Ensure that public information is available through party, workers’, children’s, and women’s associations about forms of violence against women, their legal and physical consequences, and how victims can access free and confidential functioning services. 
 
 Protection 
 
 Ensure availability of adequate shelters, as well as psychosocial, legal, health, and other services for survivors of sexual violence, including in rural areas. 
 
 Conduct training and capacity building for psychosocial counselors and promote access to such counseling for survivors of violence. 
 
 Establish case management services for victims of sexual violence in every province to coordinate between agencies and follow-up with survivors. 
 
 Raising Awareness about Women’s Rights and Sexual and Gender-based Violence Against Women 
 
 Publicly acknowledge the pervasive problem of violence against women in North Korea and launch a nationwide campaign to educate the public on the problem, emphasizing that sexual violence and rape are illegal and should be reported, investigated, and prosecuted; and ensure the campaign includes measures to reduce stigma against survivors of sexual violence. 
 
 Launch public information and awareness campaigns to promote gender equality and combat discriminatory policies and attitudes that contribute to subordination of women and girls in society and within the family, such as restricting certain field of studies and professions only to men. 
 
 Reform education curriculum in schools to: promote gender equality and non-discrimination; end discriminatory attitudes towards women and girls; increase awareness of the rights of women and girls; and provide comprehensive sexuality education for both girls and boys. 
 
 Provide a comprehensive sexuality education program that emphasizes gender equality for teachers, health workers, police, soldiers, party members, other authorities, and the general public. 
 
 Engage with international humanitarian and human rights organizations to develop programs to protect women and girls from physical and sexual violence; provide support services to survivors, including medical care or counseling; provide technical assistance to the government in reforming institutions to ensure greater accountability for sexual violence; and implement awareness campaigns to inform the public that sexual violence is a crime. 
 
 International Human Rights Obligations 
 
 Ensure that North Korea’s laws fully comply with international human rights standards set out in the rights treaties ratified by the DPRK: the ICCPR; the ICESCR; the CRC; the CEDAW; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 
 
 Take immediate steps to end all types of sexual violence against women and address the human rights conclusions issued by the CEDAW Committee in November 2017 and, previously, in the UN Commission of Inquiry report from February 2014. 
 
 End discrimination against women and girls in access to education and employment at all levels, in conformity with North Korea’s obligations under CEDAW and the CRC, the recommendations made to North Korea during the Universal Period Review process, and recommendations made in reports from UN Human Rights Council special procedures and UN international human rights treaty bodies. 
 
 Formally communicate to the International Labour Organization (ILO) director-general that the DPRK accepts the obligations set out in the constitution of the ILO and become a full member of the organization; ratify the core ILO conventions (conventions 29, 87, 98, 100, 105, 111, 138, and 182); and ensure an end to gender disparities in pay, conditions of work, and work status. 
 
 Provide international human rights organizations, including nongovernmental organizations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea, and other relevant UN special rapporteurs and bodies, immediate access to the country to monitor the rights situation of women and girls, report on human rights developments, and help implement rights-respecting reforms and recommendations. 
 
 Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and fully cooperate with the ICC to ensure accountability for crimes against humanity committed by North Korean officials. 
 
 To the People’s Republic of China: 
 
 Comply with China’s international legal obligation as a state party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention to respect the principle of nonrefoulment and abstain from forcibly sending back any North Korean who has fled or attempted to flee from North Korea to China to the DPRK; and recognize all North Koreans fleeing without permission from North Korea into China as refugees sur place and allow the UNHCR to have immediate, unimpeded access to them. 
 
 and allow the UNHCR to have immediate, unimpeded access to them. Extend political asylum to North Koreans who flee into China; do not detain them and allow them safe passage to a third country of their choice. 
 
 Put in place measures to prevent human trafficking of North Korean women and girls; effectively identify North Koreans who have been victims of trafficking in China; and provide victims with protection and services in line with the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children of the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, ratified by China in February 2010. 
 
 Publicly call and continuously pressure North Korea to fully respect women’s and girls’ rights in line with recommendations of CEDAW and the CRC, and provide technical assistance in eliminating discrimination of all kinds against women and girls. 
 
 Investigate and prosecute any officials forcing North Koreans back to North Korea. 
 
 Apply Art. 46 of the 2012 Entry-Exit Law, which provides legal status for those in China who have registered claim for refugee status. 
 
 To the Republic of Korea: 
 
 Publicly and privately urge the government of the DPRK to undertake the reforms recommended in this report. 
 
 Make physical and sexual violence against women a standing item in bilateral human rights discussions with North Korea. 
 
 Support the establishment of the North Korean Human Rights Foundation required by the North Korean Human Rights Act Provide funding for additional research on sexual violence against women and girls, and for screening programs to identify North Korean women who have suffered sexual violence; and establish and implement programs to help victims of sexual assault. 
 
 Support efforts to provide educational information on reproductive health and sexual and gender-based violence through media likely to reach people in North Korea. 
 
 Assess all aid, cooperation, and exchange programs with the DPRK to determine whether any funded activities currently are, or may be, exacerbating problems regarding violence against women; and establish project development criteria on violence against women to use to screen current and future projects. 
 
 Require the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to provide support and funding to organizations assisting North Koreans fleeing the country to achieve or expand capability to support survivors of sexual violence; and create programs to help survivor of sexual violence among the North Koreans living in South Korea. 
 
 Require the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to collaborate in order to establish and implement mandatory trainings on human rights and sexual and gender-based violence for all South Korean officials at all levels of government who will going to North Korea and engage in bilateral activities with North Koreans, so their engagement does not exacerbate existing problems regarding sexual violence. 
 
 Require the Ministry of Unification to create mandatory trainings on human rights and sexual violence and provide support for those civilian and civil society groups, in the religious, humanitarian, development, and business sectors, that plan to visit and have regular contact with North Korea prior to their commencing such activities. 
 
 Provide technical assistance and support to encourage and enable North Korea to undertake efforts to document sexual violence, including collection of credible data on the proportion of complaints leading to arrest, the number of protection orders issued, and the number of prosecutions. 
 
 Publicly call and continuously pressure North Korea to fully respect women’s and girls’ rights in line with their commitments under CEDAW and the CRC; and provide technical assistance in eliminating discrimination of all kinds against women and girls. 
 
 Support additional action by the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly to raise concerns about sexual violence, gender discrimination, and other abuses against women and girls in North Korea. 
 
 Support expanded consideration of sexual violence in the UN Security Council’s work on human rights in North Korea. 
 
 Call on the UN Security Council to invite a North Korean female survivor of sexual violence to provide a briefing as part of the next UN Security Council formal discussion of the situation of human rights in North Korea expected to take place in December 2018. 
 
 To United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and Member States, Concerned Governments and International Donors Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, France and Italy: 
 
 Publicly and privately urge the government of the DPRK to undertake the reforms recommended in this report. 
 
 Assess all existing aid programs to the DPRK to determine whether any funded activities are exacerbating problems regarding violence against women; and establish project development criteria on violence against women to use to screen current and future projects. 
 
 Establish and implement women’s rights and sexual and gender-based violence related trainings for all North Korea based embassy personnel and development project staff, as well as those directly involved in North Korean aid project development and oversight regardless of location. 
 
 Assist the North Korean government in developing policies and programs aimed at preventing violence against women, reforming the police and law enforcement agencies in line with the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, holding perpetrators accountable, and assisting survivors of sexual violence. 
 
 Provide services assisting survivors of sexual violence, especially focused on counseling, medical assistance; support programs to increase public awareness of the problem and combat stigma against sexual violence victims; and assuming the DPRK demonstrates serious commitment to address the problem of sexual violence, consider provision of technical assistance for legal and judicial reform to address sexual violence issues. 
 
 Provide support and funding to organizations that help North Koreans fleeing the country to reach safety to enable them to provide support for survivors of sexual violence. 
 
 Publicly call and continuously pressure North Korea to fully respect women’s and girls’ rights in line with their commitments under CEDAW and the CRC; and provide technical assistance in eliminating discrimination of all kinds against women and girls. 
 
 Support additional action by the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly to raise concerns about sexual violence, gender discrimination, and other abuses against women and girls in North Korea. 
 
 Support expanded consideration of sexual violence in the UN Security Council’s work on human rights in North Korea. 
 
 Call on the UN Security Council to invite a North Korean female survivor of sexual violence to provide a briefing as part of the next UN Security Council formal discussion of the situation of human rights in North Korea expected to take place in December 2018. 
 
 Support efforts to provide educational information on reproductive health, sexual violence, and gender-based violence through media likely to reach people in North Korea. 
 
 To UN Agencies: 
 
 UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) Office in North Korea 
 
 Conduct high level advocacy (with support from UN agency members) aimed at senior DPRK government officials and Workers’ Party of Korea representatives to underscore the urgency of addressing sexual violence and promoting reforms to end these abuses. 
 
 Establish a sexual violence and rights working group composed of UN agencies in North Korea (with technical support from the OHCHR) that meets no less than every three months to coordinate initiatives, programs, and assistance. 
 
 Conduct regular consultations on sexual violence and rights issues with like-minded diplomats in Pyongyang and elsewhere on promoting reforms to address sexual violence. 
 
 UN Agencies with Presence in North Korea (FAO, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and WFP) 
 
 Expand human rights and protection work in their programs in North Korea, especially targeting an end to sexual violence, and assign senior staff responsibility in their Pyongyang office to carry out this mandate. 
 
 Establish mandatory trainings on women’s rights and sexual and gender-based violence and provide all international and local staff members engaged in Pyongyang or at headquarters with project and program activities with North Koreans. 
 
 Where possible, seek to integrate activities to recognize and support victims of sexual violence into existing programs for psychological support and medical assistance programs. 
 
 Work with the UNRC and other members of the UN Country team to integrate protections regarding sexual violence of women in its cooperation projects within the Strategic Framework for Cooperation between the UN and the DPRK (2017-20121). Publicize work to promote rights, gender equality and an end to sexual violence in North Korea and abroad. 
 
 Publicize work to promote rights, gender equality and an end to sexual violence in North Korea and abroad. To OHCHR and UN Human Rights Bodies: 
 
 Raise sexual violence and gender-based discrimination as prominent issues in engagement with DPRK government; and offer technical assistance in addressing these and other human rights issues. 
 
 Support the continued effort of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea to engage with the DPRK authorities and gain access to North Korea, as well as that of the OHCHR Seoul office. 
 
 UN Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, on trafficking in persons, and on physical and mental health, and the UN Working Group on discrimination against women, should engage with the DPRK government on issues of sexual violence and rights abuses, send communications and press recommendations, and seek official permission to visit North Korea. 
 
 Support additional action by the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly to raise concerns about sexual violence, gender discrimination and other abuses against women and girls in North Korea. 
 
 Support expanded consideration of sexual violence in the UN Security Council’s work on human rights in North Korea. 
 
 Call on the UN Security Council to invite a North Korean female survivor of sexual violence to provide a briefing as part of the next UN Security Council formal discussion of the situation of human rights in North Korea expected to take place in December 2018. 
 
 To INGOS with Ground Access: 
 
 Establish staff training programs on human rights, and sexual and gender-based violence, for both international and North Korean staff members. 
 
 Develop criteria for identifying sexual violence to ensure that policies and programs do nothing to enable such abuses; and develop strategies for combatting sexual violence that can be incorporated as an important element of all future programs. 
 
 Assess all existing aid programs to the DPRK to determine whether any funded activities are exacerbating problems regarding violence against women; and establish project development criteria on violence against women to use to screen current and future projects. 
 
 Wherever possible, integrate psychological support and medical assistance activities into both existing and future programs to enable greater recognition and support for victims of sexual violence. 
 
 Seek funding for programs and capacity building specifically targeted at preventing sexual violence and assisting survivors of sexual violence; and develop services provision of medical and psychological assistance for such survivors. 
 
 Acknowledgments 
 
 This report was researched and written by an Asia Division researcher at Human Rights Watch. The report was edited by Brad Adams, Asia director; Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director; Heather Barr, women’s rights senior researcher; Liesl Gerntholz, women’s rights director; and Danielle Hass, senior editor. Dinah PoKempner, general counsel, and Joe Saunders, deputy program director provided legal and program review. Racqueal Legerwood, associate in the Asia Division, provided editing and production assistance. Cover and illustrations were designed by Choi Seong Guk. This report was translated into Korean by Jinouk Chung and vetted by Kim Eun-hye. 
 
 We are particularly indebted to external reviewers, including Anna Maria Cesano, gender justice expert at UN Women and Joanna Hosaniak, deputy director general at Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. We are very grateful to the local NGOs, journalists, and academics who assisted in our research–including Kwon Eun-kyoung, director at Open North Korea; Lee So Yeon, director at New Korea Women’s Union; Kim Seokhyang, North Koreans studies professor at Ewha Womans University; Shin Mi-nyeo, director at Saejowi; Ahn Myung Chul, director at NK Watch; Teodora Gyupchanova, researcher at Database Center for North Korean Human Rights; Jong Hyeon Mu, co-director at Unification Media Group; and Kang Mi Jin, a reporter and manager of the North Korean team at Daily NK– as well as to those who assisted in the field, including “Superman;” Kim Miju, PhD. student at Ewha Womans University; Kim Seong-eun at Caleb Mission; and Tim Peters at Helping Hands Catacombs. 
 
 Above all, we express our sincere gratitude to all the North Korean women and men who shared their stories with us, and many others who could not be named for security reasons. We hope that this report will contribute to ending sexual violence against women in North Korea and bringing to justice to those responsible for these abuses. 
 
 While Human Rights Watch benefitted from the expertise of many organizations and experts in preparing this report, Human Rights Watch is solely responsible for its contents. None of the findings, assessments, or conclusions of the report should be attributed to any of the organizations listed here. 
 
 Human Rights Watch gratefully acknowledges the support of donors whose generosity made this work possible, including the Robin Foundation and those who wish to remain anonymous. 
 
 Korean Words Glossary 
 
 Banjang team or class leader 
 
 Boanseong police 
 
 Bokjong gwanggye undefined subordinate relationship, literally “relationship of obedience” 
 
 Bowibu secret police, current bowiseong 
 
 Bowiseong secret police, former bowibu 
 
 Daegisil jail 
 
 Damdangkwan prison guard in charge of one prison section, unit 
 
 Ganggan rape 
 
 Gugumsil jail 
 
 Inmin boanseong Ministry of People’s Security, police 
 
 Inminban neighborhood watch systems 
 
 Jangmadang government-allowed markets 
 
 Jipkyulso temporary holding facility 
 
 Juche sasang ideology of self-reliance 
 
 Kukga anjeon bowiseong Ministry of State Security, secret police 
 
 Kuryujang pre-trial detention facility 
 
 Kyohwaso ordinary crimes prison camps, sometimes also called re-education camps, literally “reform through labor center” 
 
 Kwanliso political prison camps, literally “control center” 
 
 Rakhujaban punishment section of ordinary prison camps, literally “room for the people that fall behind,” also called “nakhujaban” 
 
 Rodong danryeondae short term labor training facilities, literally “labor training center” 
 
 Sojang team or group chief 
 
 Songbun a socio-political classification system, literally “ingredient, element” 
 
 Songun military first policy 
 
 Suryong Supreme Leader 
 
 Tarak fall, corruption, decadence, degradation 
 
 Acronyms 
 
 CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 
 
 UN COI United Nations Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea 
 
 CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child 
 
 CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 
 
 DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 
 
 FAO Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations 
 
 ICC International Criminal Court 
 
 ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
 
 ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 
 
 ILO International Labour Organization 
 
 KCNA Korean Central News Agency 
 
 KINU Korea Institute for National Unification 
 
 MPS Ministry of People’s Security, police 
 
 MSS Ministry of State Security, secret police 
 
 NKHR Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights 
 
 OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights 
 
 PEP Postexposure Prophylaxis 
 
 UN United Nations 
 
 UNFPA United Nations Population Fund 
 
 UNHCR United Nations Refugee Agency 
 
 UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund 
 
 UNRC United Nations Resident Coordinator 
 
 WFP World Food Program 
 
 WHO World Health Organization 
 
 WPK Workers’ Party of Korea ||||| Just in time for Mother's Day, an annual ranking of the best and worst countries in which to be a mom puts the USA in 25th place, up from 31st last year. 
 
 The 13th annual State of the World's Mothers report by the Save the Children foundation, out today, examines the well-being of mothers and their children in 165 countries, based on a range of measures, including mothers' education, infant mortality and breastfeeding rates. 
 
 Norway tops the overall list of best places to be a mother and ranks among the very best on contraceptive use, female education and political representation. It has one of the most generous maternity leave policies in the developed world. 
 
 The improvement in the USA's rank is due largely to increases in its already high educational status, which benefits the economic potential of women and mothers, says Carolyn Miles, president of the charity. 
 
 The USA still performs below average overall and quite poorly on a number of measures, Miles says, including: 
 
 •Lifetime risk of dying from childbirth. Mothers in the USA face a one-in-2,100 risk of maternal death, the highest of any industrialized nation. 
 
 •Mortality rate of children. The death rate for children younger than 5 is eight per 1,000 births, on par with Bosnia and Herzegovina. A child in the USA is four times as likely as a child in Iceland to die before age 5. Forty countries performed better than the U.S. 
 
 •Maternity leave policies. Policies in the USA are among the least generous of any wealthy nation. It is the only developed country, and one of only a handful of countries in the world, that does not guarantee working mothers paid leave. "The U.S. has moved up, but it's still not great, falling near the bottom among most wealthy nations," Miles says. 
 
 Niger, in Western Africa, is last on the index. It is in the grip of a worsening hunger situation, threatening the lives of a million children, Miles says. 
 
 The child mortality rate in Niger is one in six, vs. one in 333 in Norway, offering "the starkest contrast that you can see" between two countries, she says. 
 
 The report emphasizes nutrition as a key factor in determining mothers' and their children's well-being. Malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than 2.6 million child deaths each year, it says. An additional 171 million children suffer stunted growth. "Nearly 1 million lives could be saved by breastfeeding alone," Miles says. 
 
 The findings should serve "as a fire alarm to countries and people to look at this situation and draw them together to come up with an action plan," says Jennifer Requejo, a maternal and infant health researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She was not involved in the research.
– To mark International Women's Day, AoL News takes note of countries that treat their women the worst. The findings are based on a UN index that factors in categories such as jobs, education, political representation, and reproductive health. The worst offenders: Yemen: Its female citizens routinely face "violence and discrimination," says Amnesty International. Democratic Republic of Congo: The civil war is officially over, but rape, famine, and disease remain common. Niger: One in 7 women will die in childbirth. Click for the full list. For better reading on the topic, click for some of the year's biggest breakthroughs for women around the world, including the creation of a UN superagency.