By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Approximately six out of every 10 athletes at secondary schools were found to have suffered sexual harassment from their coaches and seniors, according to a survey by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) released Monday.

The human rights agency surveyed a total of 1,139 male and female athletes at middle and high schools nationwide over six months in cooperation with a research center at Ewha Womans University.

The report found that 63.8 percent of respondents had been sexually harassed, either physically or verbally. By type, verbal sexual harassment formed the largest portion at 44 percent, while 20 percent answered they were physically harassed. Of them, 1.5 percent said they were asked to have sex by their coaches or colleagues. Of 17 sex demand cases, 11 led to sexual assault, and six were male victims.

However, most victims did not report the harassment. Asked why, one third of the victims said it would adversely affect their athletic career, more than 16 percent answered they did not want to quit their sports team. This shows that most victims did not report the incidents because they were concerned about the negative impact doing so might have on their athletic lives.

If physical violence is added to sexual harassment, the percentage of victims rises to 79 percent. Of them, 25 percent said they suffered physical violence once or twice a week, with 5 percent reporting they were victims of abuse everyday.

Violence usually took place in training places and lodging houses, with the main assailants being coaches, followed by seniors.

``School violence on athletes has reached a point where it should not be tolerated further,’’ a commission official Moon Kyong-ran said. ``We hope this survey will be a catalyst to rectify prevalent violence against athletes at schools.’’

Nearly half of those who were victims of violence said they considered quitting their athletic careers.

Meanwhile, the report pointed out that many student athletes fail to attend classes. When they have competition events, they attend classes on average for just two hours a week.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr