Lawmaker links prostitution to sexual violence

Cities with the high rates of sexual violence also have high prostitution rates, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed.

The information was released by Rep. Jin Sun-mee from the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy and included statistics beginning in 2011.

The five regions where sexual violence occured most frequently were Gwangju, Seoul, Jeju, Busan and Incheon. Those cities had an average prostition rate of 0.68 cases per 1,000 people.

The national average, however, stood lower at 0.54 cases.

The rate refers to the number of people who buy prostitution.

On the other hand, cities with the lowest number of sexual crimes - North and South Gyeongsang Province, as well as North Jeolla, North Chungcheong and Gangwon provinces - had an average prostitution rate of 0.36 cases per 1,000 people.

“The belief that prostitution helps prevent sexual assault has been proven false. Prostitution and sexual abuse represent a violent culture shared by men. We need to come up with comprehensive measures to root out the evil practices,” the lawmaker said.