✍️여성의 급여의 불평등을 수정하는 과정 전에 취업을 막는 현상을 겪는 국가에 대한 수정가능성에 대하여 더 논의가 이루어질 수 있기를…
Title: Before Equal Pay: The Right to Access Employment Amidst Social and Familial Harassment
Introduction
While global campaigns such as Equal Pay Day highlight the importance of wage parity, many women face barriers long before salary negotiations begin. In my case, the issue is not unequal pay—it is the inability to access employment at all. After relocating to my hometown, where my ex-husband resides, I have encountered systemic obstruction, social harassment, and emotional manipulation that prevent me from securing a job. This essay explores how employment access itself can be denied through personal targeting and regional entanglement.
Body Paragraph 1 – Familial Interference and Employment Obstruction
For the past three years, I have been unable to find work in my hometown. My ex-husband’s company, which dominates local hiring networks, has actively blocked my employment prospects. This is not a matter of professional qualification—it is a deliberate act of exclusion rooted in personal history. Such interference violates my right to economic participation and reflects how familial ties can be weaponized to control women’s livelihoods.
Body Paragraph 2 – Social Harassment and Symbolic Violence
The harassment extends beyond employment. Local residents have circulated rumors about a Southeast Asian woman allegedly involved with my ex-husband before our divorce. These narratives are not just gossip—they are used to justify further exclusion and emotional targeting. This symbolic violence turns my personal history into a public spectacle, eroding my dignity and reinforcing gendered hostility.
Body Paragraph 3 – The Gap Before the Pay Gap
Discussions about equal pay often assume that women are already employed. However, my experience reveals a deeper issue: the denial of access itself. Without the ability to work, the concept of wage equality becomes irrelevant. For women like me— divorcees, and individuals entangled in regional power dynamics—the first battle is not for fair compensation, but for the basic right to participate in the workforce.
Conclusion
Achieving equal pay is a vital goal, but it must be preceded by equal access to employment. My story illustrates how personal history, social stigma, and familial control can obstruct this access, leaving women economically and emotionally isolated. I am sharing this not only to assert my truth but to call for broader recognition of the invisible barriers that precede the wage gap. Every woman deserves the right to work, regardless of her past.