Residents of Phnom Penh’s Floating Homes Evicted 

In preparation for Southeast Asian Games, Cambodian government officials have mandated the evacuation of floating homes on the Tonle Sap River, displacing hundreds of families. 

 A floating village in Phnom Penh. Anne Roberts. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 

Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh has experienced turmoil over the past few weeks following the sudden eviction of the city’s iconic floating homes. 

Floating villages have been an integral part of the culture and lifestyle in the community of Phnom Penh for generations, and many homes have been passed down through ancestry. Each individual home is made primarily of wooden planks and hand-built bridges that interconnect the platforms. Many even have small boats on the river alongside their homes to make travel amongst the homes easier. Their location on the banks of the Tonle Sap River, one of the most productive freshwater ecosystems in the world, provides access to around 150 different kinds of fish and allows residents to make a living from fish farming.

The evacuation notices were issued by the Phnom Penh Municipality after it received multiple complaints about litter and sewage polluting the communities. The city is set to host the Southeast Asian Games in 2023 and is currently undergoing a clean-up campaign to prepare the community for the surge of tourism and press that will follow. Rather than investing money into the communities to clean and rebuild this part of the city, the government decided to get rid of them altogether. 

A boat on the Tonle Sap River. Ec Perez. CC BY 2.0

The evacuation of these communities was sudden and gave families little time to relocate, not to mention that many did not have a place to relocate to. The pandemic has not made any of this easier, as moving around puts the citizens at risk of spreading or contracting COVID-19. Furthermore, the closure of Cambodia's shared border with Vietnam leaves them with fewer relocation options. 

This situation sheds light onto the large-scale infringement of citizen rights that is common in cities preparing to host large events. Whether it be the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil or the Tokyo Olympics, many cities have sacrificed the well-being of their citizens for the preparation and funding of events. While hosting globally-recognized events is an exciting opportunity, it often comes at the expense of the very people that live there. Citizens are often permanently displaced by the construction of stadiums and plunged into poverty while the host cities pour money into refurbishments and the beautification of the city. 

While the evictions are still underway, many citizens of Phnom Penh are now in search of unoccupied land and job opportunities in order to compensate for the stability that they have lost. 

Zara Irshad

Zara is a third year Communication student at the University of California, San Diego. Her passion for journalism comes from her love of storytelling and desire to learn about others. In addition to writing at CATALYST, she is an Opinion Writer for the UCSD Guardian, which allows her to incorporate various perspectives into her work.

Senegal’s Artisanal Fishing Sector Faces a Rising Tide of Troubles

As vaccine rollouts speed up and restrictions loosen, some countries are beginning to piece back together life from before the COVID-19 pandemic. Other countries, like Senegal, have seen just the opposite. 

Fish market in Senegal. Evgeni Zotov. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

For many, a job is just a job—a way to keep food on the table and to pay the bills. For others, the wealth brought from working is deeply cultural, offering up a steady stream of personal meaning supplemented by financial gain. In the West African nation of Senegal, artisanal fishermen and women take great pride in their heritage, with the women standing center stage. 

Senegal is a relatively poor nation, with 30% of households grappling with food insecurity. The fishing industry plays a substantial role in Senegalese society: over 600,000 people are employed by the fishing industry and half of the protein consumed by the country’s residents comes from fish.

The women of Senegal’s coastal fishing villages sustain a matriarchy built on the fishing industry. The women process by hand loads of fish brought in by fishermen. They sun-dry and smoke the fish before selling them in local markets and to foreign fishing companies. Their work done by these women upholds their families, with one income from a fish processor able to feed up to eight family members. 

The Senegalese fishing women possess profound resilience; the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished their income to nearly nothing, which only increased their determination and creativity. By pooling money and taking hold of other resources, the Senegalese women have discovered a way to push through the pandemic.

However, Senegal’s artisanal fishing industry faces other major hurdles besides the COVID-19 pandemic. The rising sea levels brought on by climate change have ravaged many families’ coastal homes, with many unable to build new houses on their income. Additionally, rising sea levels have forced the men to venture much farther off the coast to haul in the same catch. This proved particularly difficult with Senegal’s COVID-19 curfew, which limited how far the men could travel out to sea. The women who process the fish have experienced decreased production as well, with many processing sites closed or greatly limited in capacity.

Lastly, larger industries have threatened the livelihood of this comparatively small field. Nearby construction threatens Senegal’s waters with pollution, while major fishing companies easily outproduce the women selling their catch. In addition, the government permits other countries to fish in local waters within regulation, but failure to effectively enforce these rules has greatly hurt the artisanal fishing industry.

Although there seems to be one hurdle after the next, the fishermen and women of Senegal have proven again their resilience. The country’s fishing women, in particular, stand not just as hopeful examples for their neighbors, but as a sign of strength for the entire world. 

Ella Nguyen

Ella is an undergraduate student at Vassar College pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies. She wants to assist in the field of immigration law and hopes to utilize Spanish in her future projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and learning about cosmetics.

The Pandemic’s Impact On Homelessness in America

In 2020, 580,466 people in the United States experienced homelessness on any given night, 2.2% more than in 2019. COVID-19 is likely a major factor in this increase. 

In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, over half a million people in the United States were experiencing homelessness each night. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that in 2020, this number increased by 2.2%. Though 2.2% may seem like a small figure, it amounts to an additional 12,751 people experiencing homelessness on any single night. 

Numerous people lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and struggled to find new ones in the midst of a global crisis. In April 2020, the U.S. unemployment rate peaked at 14.8%, the highest percentage since unemployment data began being recorded in 1948. By December, the unemployment rate had dropped to a still-elevated 6.7%. These record unemployment rates almost certainly contributed to the rise in homelessness. Data collected by the Congressional Research Service shows that in April 2020, unemployment rates in every state and the District of Columbia had reached levels greater than their highest rates during the Great Recession. 

In addition to increasing the overall number of people experiencing homelessness, the pandemic contributed to worsening living conditions for unhoused people. There is more than one type of homelessness; the four main categories are chronic, episodic, transitional and hidden. These four categories are separated by how long a person has been experiencing homelessness and by what types of resources are available to them.

People experiencing chronic homelessness are defined as having been continually homeless for a year or more or having had four or more episodes of homelessness in the last three years. Rates of people experiencing chronic homelessness increased 15% from 2019, with 2020 being the first year since 2011 that the number passed 100,000 people. 

There are also two other subcategories of homelessness: sheltered and unsheltered. Sheltered refers to those who are residing in a publicly or privately owned shelter that provides temporary housing, like an emergency shelter, transitional housing or even a motel. Unsheltered refers to those residing in a place not designed for human habitation, like on the street or in cars, abandoned buildings or other makeshift shelters. 

People experiencing chronic homelessness are statistically more likely to fall into the unsheltered category. Rates of unsheltered homelessness also increased from 2019, by 7%. This rise in unsheltered homelessness is likely a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led shelters around the country to limit their capacity in order to allow for social distancing in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus. The measure, though reasonable in the context of the pandemic, left many unsheltered. 

Other support systems for people experiencing homelessness were limited by the pandemic as well, especially in the early months. Amid national lockdown orders, charities that offered food and warmth to the homeless shut down, and many volunteers at places like soup kitchens were afraid to work due to the risk of contracting COVID-19. Time magazine reports on this phenomenon of a social safety net shutdown in West Virginia, but similar things happened nationwide. Most indoor spaces were shut down, and unsheltered people living under a shelter-in-place order had nowhere to go. 

Cities around the country reported increasing death rates among their homeless populations. Some of the deaths resulted from COVID-19 itself, as many people experiencing homelessness have preexisting conditions that make them fall into the high-risk category for the disease. The lack of social support systems also contributed to the high death rates, as people had nowhere consistent to turn in times of freezing cold, or even when looking for basic resources like food. 

The pandemic has drawn attention to the severity of the homelessness crisis in the United States and to the necessity of social support systems, as well as programs designed to get people into housing. Some such programs, like California’s Project Roomkey and Project Homekey, were developed during the pandemic. However, government funding for these programs is often limited. There is hope that in 2021, governments will finally invest the money necessary to work toward ending homelessness. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order directing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should fully reimburse what states spend to house people in non-congregate shelters through September 2021. 

To Get Involved: 

To learn more about America’s homelessness crisis and how to solve it, visit the website of the National Alliance to End Homelessness here.

To find resources to support a homeless shelter in your area, visit the Homeless Shelter Directory here.

Rachel Lynch

Rachel is a student at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY currently taking a semester off. She plans to study Writing and Child Development. Rachel loves to travel and is inspired by the places she’s been and everywhere she wants to go. She hopes to educate people on social justice issues and the history and culture of travel destinations through her writing.

In 2020, Femicide Rates Rose Around the Globe

Last year, the U.N. reported a significant increase in domestic violence against women and girls worldwide. Rates of femicide, the murder of women because they are women, have increased greatly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Last year, countries around the world saw protests decrying the increase of violence against women. A number of these protests were sparked by femicides that made headlines, like the murders of Vanessa Guillen in the United States, Pinar Gultekin in Turkey and Tshegofatso Pule in South Africa. Guillen, an Army private, is believed to have been killed by another service member who likely also sexually assaulted her, and Gultekin and Pule both died at the hands of a current or former boyfriend. These women were only three of a reported 50,000 women who die as a result of domestic violence each year. 

In 2020, that number increased further. The U.N. reported that reports of domestic violence as a whole dramatically increased, with 243 million women around the world being subjected to sexual and/or physical violence within the year. That figure only includes women and girls aged 15 to 49, so the real total worldwide is even higher, since women outside that age range experience violence as well. 64-year-old Justina Galo Urtecho, who was raped and strangled to death in her home in Costa Rica, stands as a prominent example. The rise in violence against women, especially domestic violence, is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns over security, health and money, as well as the series of lockdowns in many countries, have all contributed to an increase in cases of domestic violence. Due to the pandemic, women and girls worldwide found themselves stuck at home in abusive situations. 

Since France’s March 17, 2020, lockdown, cases of domestic violence have increased 30%. Emergency calls to domestic violence helplines in Argentina, Cyprus and Singapore increased 25%, 30% and 33%, respectively, after the countries instituted lockdowns. 

Many women who were victims of domestic violence ended up dead. During the first two months of its lockdown, Brazil saw a 22% increase in femicides from the same time last year. In Mexico, at least 987 women and girls were murdered in the first four months of 2020 alone. 

At the same time that the pandemic led to an increase in violence against women, it also compromised the care that women facing domestic violence had access to. With health care providers and governments overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, the U.N. report suggests that support for women who experienced violence slipped through the cracks. 

The United Nations has dubbed the increase of domestic violence and femicide that followed the COVID-19 pandemic “the Shadow Pandemic,” and urges that national responses to COVID-19 include services to address violence against women and girls. The U.N. Shadow Pandemic Campaign recommends that countries follow five steps to combat the increase of violence against women: 

  1. Allocate resources in COVID-19 response plans to addressing violence against women.

  2. Strengthen support services for women who experience violence by treating them as essential services.

  3. Increase the capacity of key support services.

  4. Put women at the center of policy reform. 

  5. Collect data on the phenomenon to inform governments’ responses.

Violence against women is an ongoing issue around the world. It did not start when the pandemic did; it simply increased. Similarly, violence against women will not end when the pandemic does. Reports suggest that the most effective way to prevent femicide is to end intimate partner violence, which necessitates addressing global gender inequality and power imbalances as a whole. 

To Get Involved: 

A list of ways to take action with the U.N.’s Shadow Pandemic Campaign can be found here. 

Rachel Lynch

Rachel is a student at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY currently taking a semester off. She plans to study Writing and Child Development. Rachel loves to travel and is inspired by the places she’s been and everywhere she wants to go. She hopes to educate people on social justice issues and the history and culture of travel destinations through her writing.

Mink Cull In Denmark Sparks Reexamination of the Fur Industry

When a highly transmissible, mutated strain of COVID-19 was found in Danish fur farms, the government called for the immediate slaughter of the country’s 17 million mink. In the wake of this swift cull, many are beginning to question the relevance of the fur industry.

A juvenile mink; they are native to North America and are usually found near bodies of water. USFWS Mountain Prairie. CC BY 2.0

At the start of November, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen ordered the immediate killing of the country’s entire mink population.

The reason for this drastic order was the emergence of a mutated form of the coronavirus. Although scientists have tracked numerous mutations, the particular variant found in the mink was determined to hinder “the effectiveness of future vaccines.” Twelve people from Denmark’s North Jutland region were infected with the new strain, which sparked the government’s swift response.

A top of the line fur coat can cost as much as $150,000. Jessica. CC BY-NC 2.0. 

Denmark is Europe’s largest exporter of mink pelts, with roughly 1,000 mink farms scattered about the country. Even if farms are not within the infection zones, owners still must cull their herds. This extremely broad measure has been financially damaging to a significant number of family businesses in the country. Since the 1920s, the Danish mink industry has been unrivaled for its quality and longevity. The effects of the cull would be nearly irreversible. Already, Danish company Kopenhagen Fur—the world’s largest auction house for furs—announced its plans to downsize and close operations within the next two to three years.

Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Mogens Jensen later admitted that the government had erred, saying that “there is no legal authority to ask mink breeders to slaughter their mink outside the zones that have been made.” On Nov. 18, Jensen resigned after increased backlash from the Danish people and those within his own party.  

Despite the well-meaning orders to prevent another potentially deadly spread, the government’s sudden request found mink farmers unprepared and overwhelmed. Peder Elbek Pedersen, veterinarian and mink specialist for a Danish veterinary association, was tasked at short notice with training and certifying farmers in humane slaughter. Nevertheless, disturbing videos emerged of mink crowded into killing boxes and gassed insufficiently. Pedersen also shared that one mink farmer attempted suicide in the wake of this mass slaughter. “These are farms that are passed on from father to son,” he said. “Kids start learning how to raise the animals when they’re 13. Mink farming is their whole identity.”

Denmark alone produces up to 17 million mink skins a year. Network for Animal Freedom. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

As the coronavirus continues to take its toll, many are starting to question the role of fur in fashion. Even before the pandemic, fur consumption was dropping. High-profile brands like Prada, Burberry and Armani openly pledged to stop using the pelts of mink, rabbits and foxes, then halted the production of anything made from exotic animal skins. Between 2015 and 2018, global fur sales fell from $40 billion to $33 billion. Despite this decline, the fur industry still retains its profits by lining other obscure cuts like trims and hoods.

With calls for ethical production, alternatives like synthetic furs are fast outpacing the sales of real fur items. Options like vegan leather and faux fur can aid the cause of animal rights activists hoping to end the practice of fur farms. As the consequences of the pandemic takes its toll, perhaps the fur industry is finally on its last legs.

Rhiannon Koh

Rhiannon earned her B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning from UC San Diego. Her honors thesis was a speculative fiction piece exploring the aspects of surveillance technology, climate change, and the future of urbanized humanity. She is committed to expanding the stories we tell.

Malaysian Princess Condemns Suicide Criminalization 

Malaysia is one of three Southeast Asian countries that still criminalizes suicide. To fight stigmas, mental health advocates have been pushing for reform and a more efficient health care system.

Pedestrians milling about a street market in Kuala Lumpur. Trey Ratcliff. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

On Sept. 10, World Suicide Prevention Day, Malaysian Princess Tengku Puteri Iman Afzan was appointed as the country’s international patron for World Mental Health Day 2020. This nomination was an encouraging sign for Malaysian mental health advocates for many reasons.

As a former British colony, Malaysia has codified an antiquated law criminalizing suicide. In Section 309 of Malaysia’s Penal Code, those who attempt and survive suicide must serve one year in prison, pay a fine, or both. Almost 60% of Malaysia’s population practices Islam, and suicide goes against the religion’s belief in the sanctity of life. Despite the stigma of suicide as a “sin,” a national study estimates that every day 10 people take their own lives. Subsequently, many human rights groups like the National Human Rights Society (HAKAM) and Minda are dedicated to raising mental health awareness and literacy. Activists hope that proper education will dispel the negative stereotypes that are preventing many from seeking the help they need.

Worshippers outside of a mosque in Malaysia. Firdaus Latif. CC BY-SA 2.0.

In an interview with The Guardian, chairman Justin Victor of emotional support hotline group Befrienders Kuala Lumpur, said that criminalization “is a deterrent to being able to speak about [suicide] openly.” Many individuals who survive are reluctant to seek help, fearing they could be charged again.

In the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, the need for mental health care reform was made more apparent. Shahfirul Hakim Shahidan, 28, attempted suicide after facing unemployment. He was charged with “inconveniencing” others and fined 3,000 ringgit ($720). If Shahidan failed to pay, he would be jailed. The sentence was met with public outcry. Minds First, a youth group advocating for mental health awareness, organized a Change.org petition demanding the decriminalization of suicide. In its statement, the group argued that the “criminalization of suicide punishes those who need help and prevents them from getting the support they need.”

As of Oct. 11, the petition had gained nearly 19,000 signatures.

The skyline of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. Salehi Hassan. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Quarantine isolation has exacerbated existing mental health challenges. Befrienders Kuala Lumpur reported an increase in calls when the government first enforced social distancing measures. Publicity director Ardy Ayadali explained, “Being in isolation increases the fear and helplessness that someone feels … when someone is isolated in crowded families or spaces, the environment can get toxic.”

During the pandemic, however, Malaysia also launched its first mental health helpline for children. Buddy Bear is a hotline that lets children discuss whatever social and emotional issues they have, and gives advice on how they can deal with them. With professionally trained volunteers, children learn how to articulate and understand their feelings with a healthy approach.

Accordingly, many felt that Iman’s appointment would aid Malaysia’s advocacy work in mental health care. The princess has also struggled with anxiety and shared that although she is no longer ashamed of her troubles, she also knows “what it’s like to feel disempowered.” Iman noted that stigma was one of the biggest hurdles and applauded Malaysians’ struggle to attain mental health rights. During her acceptance speech, the princess publicly called for the decriminalization of suicide.

Rhiannon Koh

earned her B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning from UC San Diego. Her honors thesis was a speculative fiction piece exploring the aspects of surveillance technology, climate change, and the future of urbanized humanity. She is committed to expanding the stories we tell.

Brazil’s Favelas Rely on Drug Gangs for Protection Against COVID-19

Michael McCarthy

Favela residents are innovating and banding together to survive. Since the government won’t help them, locals have no other choice but to turn to drug traffickers.

A mother and child in a Brazilian favela. Midianinja. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

In the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, masks and hand sanitizer come not from hospitals or the government but from the local drug dealer. Organized drug traffickers have switched from producing hard drugs to medical supplies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With deep ties in tightly packed neighborhoods, gangs have enforced pandemic guidelines in the absence of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, which has downplayed the virus’s threat. In fact, favela residents have organized in myriad ways to combat the coronavirus in ways that demonstrate the closely knit communities in these areas.

Gangs experienced a rise in members as the economic fallout of the pandemic worsened. As residents lost jobs, they were forced to find alternative ways to provide for themselves and their families. Concurrently, more and more residents depended on gangs to enforce curfews in their neighborhoods since the government refused to impose one.

Two armed men in a favela. El_Enigma. CC BY-NC 2.0

Jair Bolsonaro is largely considered to have failed to address the medical, economic and political devastation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a national address, he said, “Given my athletic history, if I was to get the virus, it wouldn’t necessarily concern me.” In fact, he did test positive for the virus and seemed unconcerned about viral transmission when he removed his mask during a press conference. Bolsonaro has mostly dismissed the severity of the pandemic and opposes any and all lockdowns. At 142,161 deaths as of Sept. 28, Brazil has the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, trailing only the United States.

Favelas are prime targets for a virus. They are tightly packed urban areas with typically poor sanitation and little access to medical facilities. The precise number of cases, however, is difficult to ascertain. Favelas lack the testing regimen of rich areas, so tracking the virus’s spread is hard to do accurately. Brazil’s first outbreaks were found to have originated in wealthy areas due to residents returning from vacations in Italy at the height of the surge there. As a result, the pandemic has deepened the already exorbitant class divide between primarily Black favela residents and White, wealthier “gringos.”

Favelas will likely become even more crowded in the near future. The COVID-induced recession has caused unemployment to skyrocket, leaving thousands without the means to pay rent. In Sao Paulo, 2,000 residents were evicted, and favelas have grown in the area to accommodate the influx of people with nowhere else to go. As one evicted resident told The Associated Press, “If you don’t pay, you go to the streets.”

A favela in Rio de Janeiro. AHLN. CC BY 2.0

Luckily, residents have found another resource besides gangs: each other. Neighborhood associations in Sao Paulo created an informal emergency care service to compensate for the lack of health care. The organization rents private ambulances daily and is comprised of street captains who supervise the neighborhoods. They make regular rounds with area families to check for COVID-19 symptoms and connect the sick with necessary care. This system demonstrates the tight-knit communities that emerge from the trying circumstances of a favela. As one street captain coordinator told The Intercept, “Since people aren’t getting any help from the government, people are looking to help themselves.”

These communities will become much tighter going forward as the pandemic renders travel of all kinds unwise or impossible. Travel up the social ladder has become equally treacherous. The pandemic has taken away one of the principal ways in which people try to move out of favelas: education. Many university students have moved back in with their parents and acquired jobs to support them. Though financially necessary, the decision to forgo a college education has long-lasting repercussions. A Brazilian graduate with a bachelor’s degree earns more than double the salary of a high school graduate. 

Brazil’s favelas demonstrate the extreme inequality in the country while also highlighting residents’ ability to work together and endure. Despite receiving no assistance whatsoever from the government, community members have found lasting ways to protect themselves against the virus. Still, the sad reality that gangs have proven more competent than Jair Bolsonaro’s administration shows that the coronavirus is only one of many issues Brazil must reckon with. 

Michael McCarthy

is an undergraduate student at Haverford College, dodging the pandemic by taking a gap year. He writes in a variety of genres, and his time in high school debate renders political writing an inevitable fascination. Writing at Catalyst and the Bi-Co News, a student-run newspaper, provides an outlet for this passion. In the future, he intends to keep writing in mediums both informative and creative.

Homophobia Rises in South Korea Following COVID-19 Outbreak

There has been a resurgence of discriminatory acts against South Korean LGBTQ+ individuals following a COVID-19 outbreak in May.

Itaewon, the district where the outbreak occurred, comes to life at night. Heather Lim.

South Korea has been globally recognized for its disease control and prevention protocol, revealing an impressively low number of COVID-19 cases. American journalists lauded this quick response as a prime example of liberal democracy’s success. South Korea’s new reputation as a world power was further cemented by its efficient system for COVID-19 prevention. 

Although South Korea’s curve has been flattened, a particular outbreak ignited political and social retaliation against one of the country’s most marginalized groups.

In May, South Korea’s surveillance system for tracing the coronavirus showed that an outbreak occurred at a nightclub frequented by members of the LGBTQ+ community in Seoul’s Itaewon district. Over 100 cases were linked to this particular outbreak, in which an infected 29-year-old man visited various gay nightclubs in one night. The tracking system used by the South Korean government quickly notified possible carriers of COVID-19 from that evening. Up to 6,000 individuals were followed and notified through the use of cell tower signals, rather than through voluntarily shared information. This particular method of tracking, along with an ample number of testing sites, helped the country to stop the spread of the virus. 

The LGBTQ+ community in South Korea soon faced a resurgence in discriminatory acts, from being profiled to losing jobs. Jong Geol Lee, a Korean gay rights activist, told CBS News in May that there had been an influx of calls to his support group from members of the LGBTQ+ community in fear of losing their jobs. Lee Youngwu, a gay man in his 30s, expressed his anguish to The Guardian, saying, “I felt so trapped and hunted down. If I get tested, my company will most likely find out I’m gay. I’ll lose my job and face a public humiliation. I feel as if my whole life is about to collapse. I have never l felt suicidal before and never thought I would, but I am feeling suicidal now.” 

South Korean news outlets exacerbated the wave of homophobia plaguing the country. Kukmin Ilbo, a newspaper closely aligned with Korean Protestant churches, released the names of the clubs visited by the 29-year-old man. The Washington Post shared that “gay club” and “gay coronavirus” were South Korea’s top search items following the outbreak, filling the internet with hate speech and derogatory slurs toward gay individuals. 

Although non-heterosexual relationships aren’t outlawed in South Korea, they are often stigmatized by hospitals and the government. Many hospitals have even refused to treat patients with AIDS. The many cases of violence against gay troops in the South Korean military have been often brushed aside and dismissed, leaving the victims unprotected and traumatized. 

Since May, the negative attention on the LGBTQ+ community has decreased somewhat. However, members of the group remain quiet about their identities in fear of being alienated from society. 

To combat rising levels of discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights group Chingusai has been offering support to gay men through telephone counseling. The Korean Sexual Minority Culture and Rights Center has also been fighting for the rights of Korean LGBTQ+ individuals.

Heather Lim

recently earned her B.A. in Literature in English from University of California, San Diego. She was editor of the Arts and Culture section of The Triton, a student-run newspaper. She plans on working in art criticism, which combines her love of visual art with her passion for journalism.