청 "Efforts to Prevent Sexual Offenders from Receiving Reduced Sentences Due to Unjust Excuses"

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] On the 14th, the Blue House responded to a national petition criticizing the sentencing guidelines for sexual crimes as being perpetrator-centered by stating, "We will make greater efforts to ensure that unjust excuses by sexual offenders are not accepted, resulting in leniency or reduced sentences."

Kang Jeong-su, head of the Blue House Digital Communication Center, made this statement in response to the national petition titled "Please revise the perpetrator-centered sentencing guidelines for sexual crimes," which was published on the Blue House website and social network services (SNS) on the same day. He expressed, "We extend our deepest condolences to the petitioner who felt discomfort during the sexual violence incident and investigation process."

The petition, raised in November last year, garnered a total of 264,102 endorsements over one month. The petitioner pointed out, "Currently, the conditions for establishing sexual crimes require 'assault and threats to the extent that resistance is impossible,' which the victim must prove directly, and there remains an investigative agency perception that empathizes with the perpetrator. During the investigation and trial process, the perpetrator's unilateral claims are accepted, resulting in a failure to impose strict punishment," and requested a revision of the sentencing guidelines.

Kang explained, "Recently, the Supreme Court has been easing the standards for establishing sexual crimes, ruling that if the perpetrator proceeded forcibly despite the victim's reasonable resistance, rape charges can be established. Accordingly, the prosecution is also actively indicting rape cases more than before." He added, "Several related bills to newly establish the 'non-consensual intercourse crime' are pending in the National Assembly, and various opinions, including those from academia and civic groups, are being discussed, so it is necessary to observe the legislature's judgment."

Kang stated, "Despite these efforts, serious sexual crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups such as women, persons with disabilities, and children have not been eradicated, and there are still many cases where unjust excuses by perpetrators are accepted during investigations and trials, leading to reduced sentences. The government will continue to strengthen its strict response policy toward sexual crimes and will revise various systems to ensure that the victim's position is sufficiently reflected during investigations and trials, and that appropriate punishments are imposed."

He further emphasized, "In cooperation with academia and civil society, we will derive measures to rationally establish the concept of sexual crimes, including rape and forced molestation, alongside discussions on the non-consensual intercourse crime. We will also make our best efforts to establish reasonable sentencing guidelines for digital sexual crimes, for which sentencing guidelines have not yet been prepared."

Kang also said, "We will strengthen the expertise of sexual violence investigation personnel. We will establish a dedicated sexual violence investigation system centered on prosecutors and investigators in the Women and Children Crime Investigation Divisions installed in 11 district prosecutors' offices nationwide, and continuously conduct education to cultivate gender sensitivity to prevent secondary damage to victims."

The deadline for responding to this petition was originally set for the 14th of last month, according to the internal rule that "responses must be completed within one month," but it was extended by one month for careful review.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.