Women's groups call new anti-stalking law 'ineffective'

Lawmakers vote on the passage of a bill to strengthen punishment for stalkers during a plenary meeting held at the National Assembly in southern Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

After over two decades of efforts, a law against stalking has finally been enacted, but women's rights activists are calling the law ineffective due to its failure to understand the nature of the crime.

The National Assembly plenary session passed a bill enacting the Stalking Crime Penalty Act, Wednesday, which stipulates perpetrators who willfully and repeatedly approach or follow a person, against that person's will, can be jailed for up to five years.

The law defined stalking as the act of approaching or watching another party or family without reason, or the act of causing anxiety by allowing people to send objects, texts or videos through the mail, by telephone or online.

Over the last 22 years, bills on punishment for the crime of stalking have been proposed a number of times, but they have never passed the Assembly.

Under the current law, stalking is categorized as a misdemeanor and punished only with fines not exceeding 100,000 won or 29 days in jail, drawing criticism for a failure to stop the increase of related crimes.

Experts say that the passage of the law is meaningful, but the amendment is inevitable in order to achieve the ultimate goal of the enactment of punishment for perpetrators and protection of victims.

In response, women's groups says that the bill is not effective as it only forces those being stalked to experience victimhood.

The Korea Women's Hotline released a statement titled, “The enactment of the stalking punishment act after 22 years: why it is difficult to welcome willingly,” claiming that it shows the government and the lawmakers still don't understand the nature of stalking at all.

“According to the revision bill, stalking can only be recognized as a crime if it is continuously or repeatedly performed, but victims can be threatened or feel anxiety when they experience it only once,” said Song Ran-hee, head of the Korea Women's Hotline.

“Furthermore, the bill is merely forcing those stalked to be recognized as a victim of the crime only when they feel fear and anxiety.”

The organization also said it is difficult to guarantee the effectiveness of protecting victims and guaranteeing their human rights as it fails to address the fundamental troubling nature of stalking crimes.

“At first glance, it appears that this bill includes domestic partners and their families in the category of victims, but there are no practical protective measures,” Song said.

“It is regrettable that we had to wait 22 years to obtain this incomplete stalking punishment law. We want a proper law that focuses on strict punishment of perpetrators and protects the human rights of victims.”