Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
'Digital sex crimes' in Korea have devastating impacts on victims
gettyimagesbank
By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
Victims of online sex crimes in Korea are left with long-lasting traumas, and they also face major barriers to seek justice in the legal system, according to a report released by the Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The international non-governmental organization issued a report titled “My Life is Not Your Porn: Digital Sex Crimes in South Korea,” Wednesday.
Releasing the report, the group held an online conference attended by Heather Barr, the interim co-director of HRW's Women's Rights Division, Lina Yoon, a senior researcher at the Asia Division, and Judy Kwon, HRW's Seoul City director.
Based on 38 interviews with online sex crime survivors and experts, along with an online survey of hundreds of victims, the human rights watchdog highlighted the devastating impact of tech-enabled gender-based violence, the victims of which are almost always women and girls.
It pointed out that Korea's rapid economic and technological development has not been accompanied by a similarly rapid advancement in gender equality. Sex crime prosecutions involving illegal filming rose 11-fold between 2008 and 2017, according to data from the Korean Institute of Criminology.
Heather Barr, the interim co-director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, speaks during an online conference, Wednesday. Screenshot from Zoom
“Digital sex crimes are so common, that fear of being filmed is affecting the lives of many South Korean women and girls, who have not even been directly targeted for these types of crimes as far as they know. They described being afraid to use toilets and feeling uncomfortable on public transportation,” Yoon said during the conference.
Barr commented during the conference, “Although the Korean government has responded in some ways, it's not adequate.”
She further explained that many of the victims had terrible experiences with the police, the first place they usually sought for help. “They had experiences of being mocked, made fun of by the police, and being told 'this isn't a real case,' at the precise moment when the person is feeling incredibly vulnerable and frightened.”
Korean prosecutors are more likely to drop cases of what are referred to under Korean law as “digital sex crimes.” Barr continued, “They dropped 43.5 percent of online sex crime cases, compared with 28 percent of homicide cases, and 19 percent of robbery cases, in 2019.”
“Even if the case is taken to court, perpetrators are almost never given serious sentences that feel proportionate to the harm that the victim has suffered,” she added.
In this regard, HRW delivered recommendations to the Korean government to establish a commission to examine the appropriateness of current sentences and remedies for online sex crimes.
To the National Assembly, HRW recommended that legislators develop and pass legislation to protect survivors' privacy and to require in all schools and workplaces comprehensive education on sexuality and digital citizenship that respects the rights of all individuals.
HRW recommended the National Police Agency, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office, and the Supreme Court to ensure vigorous investigation of all online sex crimes cases, as well as training of their personnel on the impacts of such offenses.