Korea urged to improve sexual harassment law after Seoul mayor's death

Rukhsana Shama

By Rukhsana Shama

In July 2019, exactly a year ago, Korea took a leap forward when the Workplace Anti-Bullying Law was enacted after a six-month trial period. This was also followed by an amendment to the Labor Standards Act. These laws criminalized workplace bullying that also included acts of sexual harassment.

The uproar against sexual harassment peaked by 2018 when #MeToo movement in Korea saw thousands of women victims coming forward with their stories of harassment. At a marathon protest in 2018 as many as 193 women, including some popular athletes and women from the media, narrated their #MeToo stories nonstop, for 2018 minutes, symbolically representing the extent of the problem.

Most recently, Korea has been shaken by the suicide of Park Won-soon, the mayor of Seoul, hours after his former secretary lodged a formal complaint of harassment with police. With the suicide news coming out, online hate comments were seen against the complainant and loyalists of the mayor accused her of instigating the suicide.

However, the city government has asked the online trolls to refrain from this act of online harassment against the victim.

This is not the first time that the Democratic Party of Korea has encountered incidences of violence against women from within its higher ranks. Former South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung was convicted of rape and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison; and Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don's political career came to a halt when he resigned and apologized for sexually harassing an employee at the city government.

The statistics cited in various newspapers reveals that over the past years the cases of violence (domestic violence, sexual harassment and assault at workplace) have seen an upward trend while convictions went downward. As many as 19, 940 cases of violence were reported to police in 2019 ― about 1,000 more than the previous year. The number of people booked for charges in these cases were 9,858 that is less than the total convictions from 2018.

Keeping in view these statistical trends as well as the fact that culprits from the higher ranks of political parties, government departments, the media industry and sports have been exposed, it is very pertinent to see the strengths and weaknesses of the Workplace Anti-Bullying Act and work toward its improvement.

According to the law, employers are legally bound to take action if a verbal or written complaint is lodged. The employer is also liable to protect the complainant by taking "reasonable" action such as sending the employee on paid leave or transferring them away from the perpetuator, while an investigation is held. The law also specifies punishment/fine for the employers if they fail to investigate the matter or protect the complainant.

The famous "hoesik" culture in which office workers go out for dinner and drinks after office hours became an occasion where women workers felt uncomfortable. These dinners usually extend to several rounds of drinks leading to visit to karaoke bars wherein the coworkers of both the sexes are in close proximity. Women workers have often reported how they encounter unwanted advances from their drunk male coworkers. The Workplace Anti-Bullying Act has declared it illegal to pressurize a woman worker into joining after-work parties.

Sexual harassment is a symptom of deeply ingrained patriarchal roots in the Korean cultural and social value system. The Workplace Anti-Bullying Act fails to adequately deal with the root cause. The very name of the act is a subtle denial of the problem that is sexual in nature ― it merely indicates workplace bullying, a very generalized term.

Furthermore, the employer is given sole discretion over investigation, protection of the victim and other matters such as inclusion or exclusion of women from after office work parties. The legal provisions do not sufficiently acknowledge the fact that bullying and sexual harassment may occur by the employer and therefore, the act lacks any accountability and redress mechanisms if the employer is involved. Another very important weakness of the law is that it does not criminalize the act of bullying/harassment, since no punishment is prescribed for the perpetuator.

In view of the foregoing, it is clear that the law has not employed a transformative approach and its implementation protocols are weak. To improve the law, it is important that the act of sexual harassment be criminalized. Discretion of employers over investigation and protection of complainant must be eliminated, as well as the possibility of employers being the perpetuator of harassment should be made part of the law.

It is pertinent that the law incorporates the provision to make it mandatory for every workplace to have a well-trained and independent "Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee" as is the practice in various U.N. institutions and countries with a progressive approach toward gender and equality.

The committee should not only deal with the harassment cases as a first response point within the organization but also oversee sensitization training at the workplace to improve workers' understanding of the issue, and monitor the culture of the organization through a gender sensitive lens. Engaging with workers on delicate issues of gender and harassment and keeping a tab on the day to day interactions among coworkers will help in a gradual transformation of the patriarchal mindset.

Another important step is to widen the scope of the law to include all those arenas where women and men come into contact for work, including political parties, the media industry and sports.

As part of an implementation plan the government must put in place an effective coordination mechanism between the Ministry of Labor, other government departments, political parties, sports facilities, the media industry, etc. Political parties, sports boards and media houses (where actors and other workers are not part of the formal structure of the organizations) should also be legally bound to have effective mechanisms to deal with sexual harassment, and the Ministry of Labor or the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, or a gender-related department of city government must oversee the implementation.

Lastly, using the technological advancement achieved by Korea for the benefit of the victims of violence and harassment is imperative. One such example is the app "Blind" that was introduced by a Korean startup to discuss official issues including bullying and harassment. The app had originally targeted corporate workers.

The government may replicate this app on a national scale to register sexual harassment complaints for robust redress and the collection of authentic data to better understand the issue to lead to improved response mechanisms, policies and laws.

Korea has succeeded tremendously in dealing with street crime, in general, as well as those specific to women, so much so that Seoul is one of the three safest cities for women solo travelers. However, it would not be wrong to refer to this success as more of optics and a measure to increase tourism, rather than truly dealing with the issue of violence against women, if concrete measures are not taken to deal with the root cause of gender inequality and imbalance in the power relations between the two sexes.

It is an occasion for reflection by the current government since President Moon Jae-In came to power claiming to be a "feminist" and yet such cases have emerged from his own political party's high ranks. It is the right time for the President and the ruling party to look within and tackle the culprits in its own ranks and bring forth effective legislative measures.

Rukhsana Shama is a women's rights activist. She has worked at ActionAid, The Asia Foundation and Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability in Pakistan.