'More change in corporate culture needed to prevent workplace sex crimes'

Hwang Hyun-sook, deputy director at the Seoul Women Workers Association, speaks at her office in Seoul, Feb. 20. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

By Kim Jae-heun

Hwang Hyun-sook, deputy director at the Seoul Women Workers Association (SWWA), says big changes have been made in Korean society and women are no longer reluctant to report crimes related to the sexual harassment or assault they experience, but companies are still far from protecting their female employees.

“An act on equal employment for both sexes was amended last May and all companies have to take immediate action when an employee reports sexual violence,” Hwang said during a phone interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday.

“However, it is hard to raise an issue to one's boss in Korean corporate culture. Also, many senior workers think it is part of the job to experience what they call 'hardship.'”

Hwang said the Ministry of Employment and Labor is the sole competent authority in this circumstance and it needs to take a more active part in supervising private companies.

According to Hwang, reports of sexual harassment in the workplace skyrocketed 68.1 percent between 2016 and 2018.

The #MeToo movement, which started in Korea after female prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun's disclosure in January last year, has encouraged many female workers to step forward about their own experiences.

“Now, the movement has developed to another stage in which the Seoul Metropolitan Government started the #WithUproject,” Hwang said.

The #WithUproject is aimed at preventing sexual harassment and assault at companies by providing education on sexual violence to employees at the employers' request. Along with the project, Seoul City expanded its committee reviewing sexual harassment reports involving staff of the city government or affiliated organizations, and Hwang is working as a co-head of the committee.

According to the SWWA, 46.8 percent of workplace sexual harassment cases occurred at companies with fewer than 30 employees. However, the law becomes softer with small businesses, and at companies with fewer than 10 workers, the employers only have to provide written information about how to prevent sex crimes, without proper education given by a lecturer.

“This, too, is not carried out well, often because employers are either uninterested in or uneducated about sex crimes themselves,” Hwang said. “In this sense, the ministry has to strictly supervise private companies, and companies also have to improve the working environment to ensure offenders are immediately punished when they get caught.”

Hwang also hopes sexual violence victims will utilize the legal services provided by lawyers at the city government.

“Not many people know about this service,” she said. “We have 95 lawyers ready to help victims but only 28 people have used the service so far. I hope people will start to take advantage of the city government's support.”