By Lee Hyo-sik
Nearly 14 out of every 100 Korean men were found to have been sexually abused as children, a survey showed Monday.
After questioning a total of 1,043 males aged 19 to 54 across the country, an Ewha Womans University team, led by professor Han In-young, said that 141, or 13.5 percent, suffered from various forms of sexual abuse at least once when they were minors.
Seventy-three respondents said they were forced to watch pornographic material or were subject to sexually-explicit jokes, while 37 were coerced to show their genitals. Twenty-eight said their genitals were exposed or touched against their will, with 23 forced to kiss.
The survey found that nearly 67 percent of those who either compelled underage boys to expose their genitals or touched them were adult males, while 83 percent of those who forcedly kissed young boys were adult women. About 86 percent of assailants were acquaintances, including family members and relatives.
Only one victim was found to have received professional legal and medical counseling after suffering from sexual abuse, with the remaining 140 left untreated.
“Korean society lacks in monetary and other resources to deal with the growing cases of sexual abuse against men, particularly minors. We need to raise awareness of such problems,” Han said.
She said that men subjected to sexual abuse suffer from as much post-traumatic stress and other ill-effects as their female counterparts. “Some of them could become sexual assailants later in life if left unattended. The government should make more efforts to care for male victims, including placing more counselors at schools and community centers across the country.”
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