UN urges Korea to protect #MeToo accusers

The #MeToo campaign can be risky in Korea. / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

The United Nations has urged the Korean government to better protect sex-crime victims as they often face retaliatory legal action for speaking the truth.

That issue has recently come into the spotlight here as the #MeToo movement gradually gains momentum.

After reviewing Korea's record, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a U.N. watchdog, released a report Monday that called on the government to improve its system so victims can report cases without fear of prosecution.

CEDAW said the risk of defamation charges deters victims from filing reports with the police. Sometimes the victims' sexual background is used as "evidence in judicial proceedings, which leads to secondary victimization and silencing of victims."

Under Article 307 of the country's criminal law, a person who defames another person by disclosing a fact to the public could face two years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won ($4,700).

The libel law, which is different from that in most other developed countries, has proved to be a deterrent for victims of sexual crimes to speak out on the #MeToo campaign.

There have been reports that some victims of sexual crimes were prosecuted after revealing their stories on social media.

To solve the problem, Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea proposed a bill last week to ban prosecuting people for publicly revealing sex crimes.

CEDAW also pointed out that sexual violence against women is prevalent in the nation's public institutions but few perpetrators end up being punished and removed.

"Ensure stricter punishment of perpetrators of sexual violence in public institutions, including schools, universities and the military; take steps against the re-instatement of perpetrators in their professional functions," CEDAW said. "Establish an effective system of management and oversight for cases of sexual harassment in the workplace, in particular by small and medium-sized enterprises, with a focus on prevention."

Over the past few years, the number of sexual harassment cases online has increased rapidly. CEDAW advised the government to come up with measures to prevent it, for example, by "enacting legislation that explicitly criminalizes such new forms of sexual violence against women."

The watchdog also suggested penalizing online platform operators for failing to prevent sexual crimes while providing a means that makes such crimes possible.

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