Guidelines Established to Prevent Secondary Harm from Violence Against Women... Protection for Reporters and Helpers Included

Responsibilities of Institution Heads and Staff to Prevent Secondary Damage
Institution Heads Must Establish Protective Measures, Grievance Procedures, and Recurrence Prevention Plans
Staff Must Be Prohibited from Concealing Incidents, Pressuring for Settlements, or Sharing Information

The Concept of Violence Against Women and Secondary Victimization within Organizations (Source: Standard Guidelines for Preventing Secondary Victimization in Violence Against Women)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The government has established guidelines to prevent secondary harm caused by workplace violence against women. The scope of protection has been expanded not only to victims but also to reporters and supporters, including measures to prevent personal information leaks during the handling process.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced the "Standard Guidelines for Preventing Secondary Harm from Violence Against Women." These guidelines were developed as a follow-up measure related to the enforcement of the Basic Act on the Prevention of Violence Against Women, which legally defined secondary harm in December last year, after eight months of research projects and gathering opinions from experts and field practitioners.

The secondary harm guidelines include the concept of secondary harm from violence against women, the responsibilities of institution heads and staff, incident handling and disciplinary actions against perpetrators, and measures to prevent recurrence. In particular, it stipulates that reporters and supporters related to secondary harm must also be provided with protective measures equivalent to those for victims. Acts such as disadvantaging reporters for reporting or spreading malicious rumors about supporters are also explicitly stated as duties that members must prohibit.

Workplace violence against women refers to sexual violence, sexual harassment, and continuous harassment based on gender against women. Secondary harm refers to mental, physical, and economic damages suffered during the handling and recovery process of violence against women cases, as well as disadvantageous measures taken due to reporting violence. Disadvantageous measures include dismissal or other status-related disadvantages, unfair personnel actions such as disciplinary actions or salary reductions, job reassignment or transfer against one’s will, unfair audits or investigations and disclosure of results, and termination of service contracts.

The responsibilities of institution heads specified in the secondary harm guidelines include ▲ conducting preventive education to prevent secondary harm ▲ preparing protective measures for victims ▲ establishing grievance handling procedures ▲ preparing measures to prevent recurrence. If an external expert participating in the incident handling process is judged to cause secondary harm, they must be dismissed, and if a member causes secondary harm, an investigation and disciplinary action must be taken. This is to prevent unintended secondary harm by supervisors when victims of violence appeal to their superiors first before applying for grievance procedures.

The duties that members must observe include prohibiting acts such as concealing or minimizing incidents, coercing or forcing settlements, sharing victim information with others, blaming victims or defending perpetrators, and mentioning or confirming victim facts without justifiable reasons.

Additionally, procedures to prepare for secondary harm occurrences and precautions to prevent personal information leaks during the handling process are included. Central administrative agencies and local governments may refer to the standard guidelines to establish their own secondary harm prevention guidelines suited to their circumstances. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to encourage the establishment of secondary harm prevention guidelines in the first half of the year and to inspect their implementation together during the end-of-July review of the "Strengthening Response System to Eradicate Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence in the Public Sector."

Hwang Yoon-jung, Director General of the Rights Promotion Bureau at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said, "We hope that by utilizing the first-ever standard guidelines for preventing secondary harm, central administrative agencies and local governments will establish necessary systems and procedures to prevent secondary harm, and ultimately improve organizational culture to eradicate workplace violence against women."

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