1. Development of agendas on women's health
2. Countermeasure movement of adolescents' health
rights
3. Movement to set the right childbirth culture
4. Biotechnology and countermovement for women
5. Activities for women's health
1.
Development of agendas on women's health
It is necessary to develop agendas on women's health by constructing
network to discuss assignments of women's health, adolescents'
health, development of policies for health in a gender sensitive
perspective through conferences on specialists for women's health.
Korean Women Link makes progress in making a connection between
women's lives and health problems by counseling women's menstrual
cycle, biotechnology, and general problems in women's health.
1> Introduction of women's diseases and health
problems
1) Women's health : Being healthy or sick in old age?
2) Women's diseases
2> Series project 'Let's regain women's health'
Aug., 2002 - Published by Hangyerye newspaper and Korean Women
Link
Published materials :
1) Dear my body..I'm sorry. Are you okay? /
2) Women's health in danger
3) Negative effects of induced abortion /
4) Increase health security, reduce the price of sanitary
napkins
5) Women with reproductive difficulties /
6) Serious aftereffects from the high rate of uterus extract
7) 'Hormone Therapy', good or bad? (▲Top
2.
Countermeasure movement of adolescents' health rights
1> Meetings on adolescents' health (Feb.-Mar.,
2005)
Korean Women Link collected basic materials about education
on adolescents' health through meetings and found insufficient
aspects of education on adolescents' health as the education
is only focused on entrance examination. Some people suggested
that camps during the vacation and special activities could
be helpful to proceed health education programs.
2> Campaign for No diet, No plastic surgery (2003
- 2005)
The campaign was designed to commemorate 'International day
for No Diet' and inform the social problems in excessive diet
and plastic surgery.
3> Health camp for adolescents
1) Camp for mothers and daughters (Aug. 1-2, 2003)
Beautiful women's bodies, break down the prejudice, practice
to love my body, etc.
2) Strawberry Jam Camp (Jul.-Aug., 2005)
The camp was about menstruation and adolescents' health which
got sound evaluation as it intended the adolescents to have
respect of themselves. It needs to make a connection between
education and games.
4> Education on consciousness improvement of
lookism and development of online programs
- Education was going on to raise awareness of adolescents
on social lookism and to improve pride of themselves.
- Students had positive effects in the respect of consciousness
change of social lookism. (▲Top)
3.
Movement to set the right childbirth culture
Korean Women Link has started discussion of childbirth culture
under the awareness on need for establishing new culture of
childbirth since 1999. Korean Women Link has made a process
to hold debate on childbirth, to inform problems in a caesarean
operation, and to change distorted culture of childbirth in
our society.
Korean Women Link has participated in the campaigns to encourage
people in medical field who tried to change childbirth culture
by implementing education for women in a local community and
publication of related materials. Also, Korean Women Link
has participated in the activities to prepare systematic improvements
such as the participation of Health Insurance Review Agency.
1> 「Culture of Childbirth in Korea, what is the
problem?」
- Movement to set the right childbirth culture from the point
of life and women
(May 31, 2000)
A forum was held to analyze the effects of medical treatment
of childbirth on women's health.
2> To improve the quality of medical services
of childbirth and to decrease the rate of induced abortion
(July 6, 2001)
Korean Women Link conducted research on women's satisfaction
with medical services during the period of pregnancy and childbirth
to understand the background of childbirth and improve the
quality of medical services. Korean Women Link introduced
the needs for improving the quality of medical services and
expanding educational program for pregnancy and childbirth.
3> Movement to decrease the rate of Caesarean
operation
In Korea, the rate of Caesarean operation is the highest in
the world, 43% in 1999, 38.6% in 2000, 39.6% in 2001, and
39.2% in 2002. The reasons of high rate of Caesarean operation
are unreasonable medical insurance system, problems in medical
treatment, low quality of medical services, and women's negative
consciousness of childbirth. Korean Women Link has tried to
find the ways to improve these problems through research on
local women's understanding of childbirth and Caesarean operation.
1) [The highest rate of Caesarean operation (43%),
how to decrease?] (July 14, 2000)
Korean Women Link developed activities to raise awareness
on childbirth by the Caesarean operation in our society.
2) Local Women's network - Incheon, Ulsan, Daejeon,
Chuncheon, Jeju (Nov. 14, 2003)
3) Research : [Research on consciousness of childbirth
and Caesarean operation]
4) Debate [The rate of caesarean operation, 39.2%, how to
decrease?] (Nov. 14, 2003)
Discussion about the result of the survey on childbirth by
Caesarean operation, process of making women's networks, introduction
of the organizations to decrease the rate of caesarean operation
5) Production and distribution of materials (Nov.
30) (▲Top)
4.
Biotechnology and countermovement for women
Our society tries to raise awareness on women's health with
biotechnology.
The precondition of cloning of human embryo is women's egg
cell. Without women's ova, it is impossible to clone human
embryos. Cloning of human embryo, rare diseases and incurable
diseases are the tasks which the society has to deal with.
In the process of doing these tasks, society is likely to
make tools of women's bodies.
Korean Women Link introduced the problems that women became
the suppliers of egg cells as biotechnology developed. Also,
Korean Women Link focused on the moral and social problems
in the cloning of human embryo. Although there were many conflicts
between national interests and social controversy, Korean
Women Link met the situation properly. There was lack of consciousness
of criticizing social technology; however, Korean Women Link
contributed to raise social awareness on women's health and
human rights with provision of egg cells. Korean Women Link
tried to give women's voice to the related social issues through
participating in discussion sessions and interviews. The activities
related to women's right in the respect of biotechnology development
will be needed in the future. Also, the system to construct
systematic management about egg cells and embryos in the infertility
clinic should be prepared.
1> Movement to establish the law of bioethics
Feb., 2002 : Legislation Announcement of the law of bioethics
and security
Contents of the bill : Prohibition of cloning of human embryos,
security of gene information with exceptive clauses which
'National Bioethics Advisory Committee' can permit
2> Activities of Solidarity screening biotechnology
Workshop for meetings on solidarity screening biotechnology
Forum on research for human embryo / Public statements and
comments
It was constructed to cope with syndrome of Dr. Woo Seok Hwang
in 2005. It developed networks by holding forum, making public
statements and discussing related agendas.
3> Meetings on Women's Network for Biotechnology
Women's organization against research on biotechnology which
could harm women's rights and health
4> Forum on biotechnology and women's bodies
(Nov., 2004)
- Focused on artificial insemination and surrogate mothers
People had opportunities to recognize the risks of women's
health rights with development of biotechnology and raise
awareness on supplying egg cells.
5> Activities for enacting law on artificial
insemination
The enactment movement of law on bioethics has connected with
the interest on artificial insemination. The clean management
structure - process the egg call is extracted (at the clinic
with a right to extract the embryo) and the production and
management of embryo - is very important in monitoring the
biotechnology, so we need to regulate this mechanism.
The law on artificial insemination are to deal with the systematic
management of the egg cell, which were excluded by law on
bioethics and safety, women's health, and human rights. We
have come to realize the necessity of enacting the law on
artificial insemination, which is a problem awaiting solution
for women's health.
6> Science from women's point of view (Sep. 22
- Oct. 26, 2004)
We tried to understand genetic information as social power,
considered ethnic problems in science technology and pro environmental
approach, and discussed how women's view can be represented.(▲Top)
5.
Activities for women's health
1> Revitalization of local medical services and
improvement of women's health. (Oct. 31, 2001)
It's necessary to check the definition of women's health,
health policy, survey of women's health, practical local programs
for improving women's health, and life cycling system at the
local level.
2> [What's the problem of value-additional tax
on sanitary napkins?]
(Aug. 20, 2002)
Necessity and reality of sanitary napkins free from tax
- problems of value-additional tax on a sanitary napkin.
According to the definition of women's living necessary, which
means things for reproduction of society as well as keeping
women's lives, sanitary napkins are representative items.
As women's necessities of life, sanitary napkins are essential
items for most women in childbearing age (approximately 15
to 49 years old). (It means a sanitary napkin's elasticity
is low, since demand is stable regardless of changing of the
price) Therefore, it is needed to realize the necessity to
exempt from tax charged on sanitary napkisn to solve the problem
of value-added tax.
- We need to try to make others realize the importance of
women's issues so that the policy toward this should be changed.
It is essential to exempt from tax charged on a sanitary napkin.
3> Making a healthy society through campaign
through preventing illegal diet food (June 23, 2003)
On a current situation in which many people have interests
in buying some diet products, a lot of consumers have been
suffering from illegal advertisements about diet products
and plastic surgery. (According to Korea Consumer Protection
Board, those who had been suffering from illegal advertisement
were increased by 43.1%, compared with 2001.) In order to
prohibit these advertisements from harming consumers, we had
implemented the monitoring work which lasted until 2004.
4> Development of policy on health matter from
the point of gender sensitive prospective - conference on
gender and health equity
Particularity in different health problems (by sex), and gender
sensitive prospective have been missed, given the statistical
data on health matter. We discuss the meaning and characteristic
of femininity and masculinity, social norm and institution,
distorted culture, violation on women, and medical health
policy as well as diseases and biological health problems
to recognize the influence and find out the way we can have
an important role in making a policy. (▲Top)