North Korea Children 'Constantly In Danger' Of Sexual Abuse, Human Rights NGO Alleges

South Korea-based human rights NGO People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE) said Wednesday that children in North Korea are "constantly in danger" of sexual abuse in the country, where it is "institutionalized and widely accepted as a normal part of life." The group has released a 195-page report on the subject, titled "Inescapable Violence: Child Abuse Within North Korea."

The report by PSCORE is based on interviews of over 200 male and female North Koreans who fled to South Korea to seek a better life. The report says that the problem is particularly acute in North Korea's schools, where teachers "are most often the perpetrators" of sexual harassment towards female students.

One testimony alleged that a teacher remarked during class that students with darker skin have "better stamina for sexual intercourse." A female defector said that she made a living for herself as a trader when she was 14, and during that time she was constantly harassed while traveling by men.

The testimonies provided in the report have not been independently verified by outside sources.

“The lack of government response crystallizes the notion that child sexual abuse is tolerated, and results in the rampant social stigmatization that prevents victims from reporting their abuse,” PSCORE said about Pyongyang's lack of action on the issue, arguing that these abuses constitute a breach of the U.S. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry into North Korea also claims that sexual and gender-based violence is prevalent in all areas of North Korean society, from at home to the workplace.

North Korea has consistently come under fire for its poor record on human rights.

Human rights monitor Human Rights Watch has called North Korea "one of the most repressive countries in the world" and an "authoritarian, militaristic, nationalist state." The U.S.-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea alleges that some 120,000 North Koreans are imprisoned without due process for political reasons, where they could be subject to torture and harsh conditions.