I will focus on the state of women and children in North Korea, namely I will explore the negative results emerging from their inability to access basic resources such as food, medicine, and social services which would otherwise improve their livelihoods. How do the socioeconomic stresses of life in the North show themselves in the lives of women and children? In humanitarian terms, what will the long-term impact of this be within the North, or on a future unified peninsula? How are North Koreans circumventing the existing social restrictions (censorship, limited access to resources and so on) in the North? This talk will also touch upon current policy agenda items that advocate for greater adherence to refugee rights in China for North Koreans (women in particular, and the children they bear), and the ease of settlement of refugees and adoption of North Korean children to the US and other countries.