Tag: me too

Sarah Williams
Sarah Williams was born in South Korea and adopted to the U.S. at nine months old into a Christian household. Growing up, she would always go to church, attend Sunday school, and read the Bible. When she was eight or nine years old, she read the story of Tamar in the Bible and saw her life being reflected right at her. A family member was sexually abusing her. Disclosing the abuse to the family meant it would disrupt the family dynamic – something she couldn’t do because she felt indebted to her family for adopting her. So she remained silent.

Eunbi Kim
Eunbi Kim is a concert pianist born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Maryland. At 19 years old, she was working in retail and met an executive at a major tech company who offered her a mentorship opportunity for a scholarship at his company. After a few interactions, she began to increasingly feel uncomfortable with the way he acted at their meetings. Eunbi expressed her boundaries and chose to remove all forms of communication yet he continued to reach out and leave voicemails blaming her for her actions. It even got to the point where he filed complaints to the police that she was the one threatening and harassing him. With the support of her father, they made a report to his company and launched an internal investigation against him. He continued to deny all accusations and shifted the blame onto Eunbi.

Hyeseung Yoo
Hyeseung Yoo was born in Seoul, South Korea, and currently works as a domestic violence social worker. In 2015, she was sexually assaulted by someone she thought she could trust. Hyeseung never went to the authorities or the hospital because, at the time, she believed it could affect her family’s visa status. In this installment of Legacy Project #MeToo, Hyeseung speaks about generational traumas and increasing openness to share and listen to survivors in the Korean American community. She wants other survivors to know that they are not alone and that there is a safe space for them to talk about their experiences.

Cecelia Lim
At 12 and 13 years old, Cecelia loved being involved in her middle school choir and looked up to her teacher. One day, she realized her teacher was doing things that seemed inappropriate and tried to get close to her in ways a student and teacher shouldn’t. She addressed what was happening, but the school couldn’t find any students or hard evidence to support her claim. Nobody believed her and thought she was just out to get him, so she internalized all of her emotions because she feared being shamed by others. Her PTSD symptoms continued to grow when she entered college, ultimately leading to a breakdown in class. With the affirmation and support from the professor, Cecelia was able to get the help she needed.

Seo-Young Chu
Seo-Young Chu was 22 years old when a powerful and beloved English professor sexually assaulted her at Stanford University. Although he was punished, she shares that the university continues to conceal the abuse by allowing awards and a library to exist in his name. Today, Seo Young still wrestles with her inner model minority voice telling her to tolerate what had happened. By participating in this series, she hopes future generations feel empowered to share their stories without shame or stigma and also recognize that there are Korean American voices in the #MeToo movement.

Monica Kim
In this first installment of Legacy Project #MeToo, Monica Kim reflects on the night of her sexual assault and the process of trying to move forward from it. She speaks about how she grappled with the idea of therapy as she worked through feelings of shame and disgust. She hopes that other Korean American women hear her story and know that they are not alone in navigating personal struggles and the healing process.

Legacy Project: #MeToo
KoreanAmericanStory.org is honored to be launching Legacy Project: #MeToo, featuring the powerful stories of Korean American survivors of sexual assault. This project seeks to empower and validate the experiences of Korean American survivors, and spark much-needed dialogue about sexual violence and harassment, as well as complex cultural stigmas that make breaking silence so difficult

My Korean American Story: Gina Kim
In August 2010, my autobiographical play entitled “MISS KIM” premiered in the New York International Fringe Festival. It was one of 197 plays featured in the festival and listed as the top 10 hottest shows in the Fringe.