A/HRC/25/CRP.1 women being targeted to pay bribes or fines. There is recent evidence that women are beginning to object and resist such impositions. 351. The economic advances of women have not been matched with social and political advancements. Entrenched traditional patriarchal attitudes and violence against women in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea persist. The state has imposed blatantly discriminatory restrictions on women in an attempt to maintain the gender stereotype of the pure and innocent Korean woman. Sexual and gender-based violence against women is prevalent throughout all areas of society. Victims are not afforded protection from the state, support services or recourse to justice. In the political sphere, women make up just 5 per cent of the top political cadre, and 10 per cent only of central government employees. 352. Discrimination against women also intersects with a number of other human rights violations, placing women in positions of vulnerability. Violations of the right to food and freedom of movement have resulted in women and girls becoming vulnerable to trafficking and increased engagement in transactional sex and prostitution.430 The complete denial of the freedoms of expression and association outside state-approved organizations has been a large contributing factor to the generally unequal status of women vis-à-vis men. Among other things, these limitations have prevented women from collectively advocating for their rights, as women have done elsewhere in the world. 353. Despite Kim Il-sung embrace of Marxist-Leninist theory and the DPRK participation in the Socialist International, the DPRK diverged from those ideals in its propagation of the notion of a pure Korean race that had to be kept clean and untainted by external influences. This construct flows from the general resistance to foreign influences and inward focus emphasized by Juche ideology.431 This deliberate withdrawal from the rest of the world bolstered the rationale for control by Kim Il-sung. The DPRK’s inward focus was one aspect of Juche ideology. Its other main element was the ever expanding cult of personality of Kim Il-sung.432 While justifying isolationist policies and elevating Kim Ilsung (and subsequently his heirs) to the supreme father-figure who could protect the nation from the hostile outside world, Juche ideology has had dire repercussions for persons seen as sullying the image of an untainted DPRK. Women and persons with disabilities experience particular discrimination, although the state has reportedly taken positive steps lately to improve its approach towards the latter group. 354. While discrimination exists to some extent in all societies, the Commission finds that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has practised a form of official discrimination that has had a very great impact on individuals’ enjoyment of human rights. Given the exceptional levels of state control, this official discrimination influences most aspects of people’s lives. Discrimination remains a major means for the leadership to maintain control against perceived threats, both internal and external. C. Violations of the freedom of movement and residence, including the right to leave one’s own country and the prohibition of refoulement 355. In considering the right to freedom of movement, the Commission looked particularly at article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which provides, among others, for the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose one’s residence; freedom to leave any country including one’s own; and the right 430 431 432 See section IV.C. For more on Juche, see section III. For more on Kim Il-sung’s cult of personality, see section IV.A. 99