Experts decry online sex crimes

EU Delegation deputy counselor Joelle Hivonnet, center, speaks during a press conference held on the sidelines of a workshop on countering online gender-based harassment, hosted by the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education. From left are Belgium’s Federal Institute for Equality of Women and Men deputy director Liesbet Stevens, Hivonnet, U.K. Bristol Law School professor Jackie Jones, Finland’s National Institute for Welfare and Health manager Hanna Onwen-Huma and U.K. think tank Demos research director Carl Miller. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family

Europeans discuss means to counter sexist hate speech

By Kim Bo-eun

In Korea, the ultra-conservative website Ilbe teems with derogatory comments against women and anybody with progressive political inclinations.

Surveys have shown that teenagers are highly engaged in the website, leading to concerns they may develop distorted gender perceptions.

Hateful sexist remarks made online and offline have become a social hazard, both here and abroad.

In 2014, Belgium introduced a criminal law to fight sexism including sexist hate speech.

“It was a difficult experience, as there was a lot of resistance to the law,” Liesbet Stevens, deputy director of Belgium’s Federal Institute for Equality of Women and Men, said at a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday.

Stevens, along with EU Delegation Minister-Counselor Joelle Hivonnet, U.K. Bristol Law School Professor Jackie Jones, U.K. think tank Demos research director Carl Miller, and Finland’s National Institute for Welfare and Health manager Hanna Onwen-Huma, was in Seoul for a workshop on countering gender-based harassment online, hosted by the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education.

In Belgium, the law was taken to the Constitutional Court, with claims it violated the right to freedom of speech. However, the court upheld the law and the country is implemented it.

According to the law, sexist hate speech is punishable by a prison term of up to one year and a fine of 1,000 euros (1.22 million won). Hate speech is defined as a verbal act made in public to at least one identifiable person expressing contempt in relation to his or her sex and causing serious injury to the dignity of the person.

There haven’t yet been cases in which a court has sentenced anybody for a violation of the law, but Stevens said her institute has taken a case — in which a man insulted a female colleague by referring to her as a “mussel” as a euphemism for female genitalia — to court and is expecting a ruling within a few months.

“The value of the law is not to put people in prison, but to force them to receive training sessions on gender equality and learn why sexist hate speech is a problem,” Stevens said.

The right to freedom of expression is commonly brought up in discussions of hate speech.

However, Hinonnet said, “In Europe, we promote and protect freedom of expression but we also recognize there are limits. One clear limit is hate speech — one cannot incite hatred and violence — and sexist hate speech is a variation.”

Meanwhile, there are also opinions that criminalizing hate speech will not effectively curb it.

“There are all kinds of activities on the internet which are illegal but happen on a large scale,” Miller said.

“This is because law enforcement authorities are struggling to enforce law online as they do offline, as they do not have the manpower, technology or trans-jurisdiction spanning borders.”

Onwen Huma stressed it is important to understand the technologies used by perpetrators of online sex crimes such as cyberstalking, revenge porn and hidden camera footage. “Police, prosecutors as well as gender equality actors and NGOs need to know about technology,” she said.

“At the same time, people also need to learn about safety on the internet — measures need to be taken to promote this.”

But rather than law enforcement, Miller said the underlining social causes of sexism need to be addressed.

“People have not been taught basic norms and morals of how to be a good digital citizen,” he said.

Jones supported an educational approach to gender-based violence.

“It’s about teaching about gender equality and healthy relationships at an early age,” she said.

Onwen-Huma said culturally constructed gender stereotypes and norms must change.

“A big issue is what we expect from boys and men in society — if we can change these norms we can go a long way,” she said.