Teachers Facing Violence and Sexual Harassment from Students Increasing Annually... "Serious Violation of Teachers' Rights"

Sharing Videos Taken Under Teacher's Skirt with Friends
Teacher's Photos Stolen and Posted with Obscene Phrases

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] As the number of teachers being physically assaulted or sexually harassed by students increases, concerns about violations of teachers' rights are rising.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Education to Kim Byung-wook, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the United Future Party, the number of cases involving violations of teachers' rights, such as verbal abuse, physical assault, and sexual harassment, increased from 2,616 cases in 2016 to 2,662 cases in 2019 over the past four years.

By type of violation, the number of cases where students physically assaulted or injured teachers increased about threefold from 89 cases in 2016 to 240 cases last year, and cases of students sexually harassing teachers rose from 112 to 229 during the same period. Violations of teachers' rights by parents and school administrators also more than doubled, increasing from 93 cases in 2016 to 227 cases last year.

There were incidents of sexual harassment such as secretly filming under a teacher's skirt and sharing the footage with friends, posting teachers' photos with obscene language mixed with insults on social networking services (SNS), and touching teachers' hair. There were also cases of physical assault, such as students throwing chairs at teachers who tried to stop fights among friends and throwing objects on desks in the health room.

Milder offenses such as verbal abuse or disruption of classes have somewhat decreased. Verbal abuse and insults totaled 1,345 cases, a 7.5% decrease compared to 2016, and class disruptions numbered 364 cases, down 30.4% from four years ago.

Assemblyman Kim Byung-wook said, "Although student rights have been strengthened through the enactment of student human rights ordinances, serious crimes such as assault and sexual harassment against teachers are increasing," adding, "Urgent measures, including legal and institutional arrangements to restore the broken teachers' rights, are necessary."

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