About us

National Solidarity Against Sexual Exploitation of Women (NSASEW) is

National Solidarity Against Sexual Exploitation of Women is a nationwide umbrella organization of anti-prostitution movement groups active across 13 regions in Korea (as of 2025).

Emerging from the Gunsan Daemyeong-dong Fire Disaster Response Committee in 2000 and the Gunsan Gaebok-dong Fire Disaster Response Committee in 2002, we played a leading role in advocating for the enactment of the 2004 Anti-Prostitution Act.

Since our official launch on June 9, 2004, we have continued our work through participation in key movements, including the Seoul Miari Fire Disaster Response Committee and the Gwangju Songjeong-dong Fire Disaster Response Committee in 2005, as well as the annual nationwide “Dandelion Pilgrimage” (a memorial and solidarity march) held every September.

We understand prostitution not as an individual choice, but as a form of violence against women and a system of sexual exploitation rooted in structural gender inequality. Accordingly, we oppose all forms of demand that sustain the sex industry.

We work to end violence against women and other marginalized groups, and we advocate for the decriminalization of women in prostitution, alongside comprehensive support measures that enable women to exit exploitation and rebuild their lives.

Moongchi: Network of Women with Lived Experience of Prostitution is

Moongchi is a survivor-led organization of women with lived experience of prostitution, active since 2006 following the implementation of Korea’s Anti-Prostitution Act.

Challenging a society that reduces prostitution to an individual “choice,” we work to expose and transform the structural sexual exploitation and gender inequality that make prostitution possible. At the center of this work are women with lived experience themselves, acting as agents of change.

Today, Moongchi is a national network of six self-organized groups of women with lived experience of prostitution across Korea. We reclaim these experiences not as objects of stigma or silence, but as lived knowledge that reveals structural injustice, and we work to ensure that these voices are heard in society and in policymaking spaces.

Exposing the sexual exploitation cartel and driving change in the realities of prostitution are central to our work.

We also build solidarity beyond Korea, connecting with women with lived experience of prostitution around the world. Through these alliances, we affirm that prostitution is not an issue of individual choice or of a single country, but a global system of exploitation and a manifestation of structural gender inequality affecting women worldwide.

Moongchi has demonstrated that the movement of women with lived experience of prostitution is not merely about exposing suffering. It is a collective practice—one that offers solidarity, healing, and strength to one another while creating social change.

We act to challenge stigma against women in prostitution and to build a society where no one is forced into prostitution, and where the right to live without prostitution is fully guaranteed.

Our existence is praxis!

Our Launch Declaration

Launch Declaration of the National Solidarity Against Sexual exploitation of Women

Following the September 19, 2000, fire disaster in Gunsan's Daemyeong-dong neighborhood, which killed five women forced into prostitution, and the subsequent massacre of 14 women at a brothel in Gunsan's Gaebong-dong neighborhood on January 29, 2002, a consensus emerged on the urgent need for a new anti-prostitution law. This led to the enactment of the law on March 2, 2004. Following the enactment of the law, the government launched a comprehensive plan to prevent prostitution and began actively addressing the problem.

However, the new law failed to decriminalize prostitution and falls short of protecting victims and eradicating prostitution. Furthermore, given the widespread misconceptions surrounding prostitution in our society, and the lack of institutional mechanisms to ensure enforcement, its effectiveness could once again be questioned.

For years, organizations that have provided support, rescue, and counseling to women in prostitution have been dedicated to advocating for the enactment of the Anti-Prostitution Act and protecting victims. Now, with the Anti-Prostitution Act enacted and set to take effect on September 23rd, it is crucial to establish institutional mechanisms to ensure its proper enforcement. The problem of state authorities engaging in collusion and bribery is particularly serious, and further evasion and acquiescence would be tantamount to condoning egregious crimes.

Therefore, we have launched the "National Coalition for the Resolution of Prostitution Issues" to eradicate prostitution crimes and actively work to resolve the issue. Starting with the enactment of legislation, the National Coalition for the Resolution of the Prostitution Problem will lead the way in advancing a world where human rights are truly respected and equality is realized. To ensure that government policies move in the right direction, the National Coalition for the Resolution of the Prostitution Problem will conduct policy proposals, monitoring activities, expanding victim protection support, and cultivating public awareness.

June 9, 2004

National Solidarity Against Sexual exploitation of Women

Saeumteo, Self-Reliance Support Community, Citizens' Coalition for the Resolution of the Prostitution Problem (Gunsan), Hanoljigi, a shelter for victims of prostitution affiliated with the Gwangju-Jeonnam Women's Association, the Human Rights Support Center for Women in Prostitution affiliated with the Jeonbuk Women's Association, the Human Rights Support Center for Women in Prostitution affiliated with the Daegu Women's Association, and Bultok, a shelter for victims of prostitution affiliated with the Jeju Women's Association.