Secondary Harm to Female Lawmaker with Remarks "You Endure It", "Are You Glad to Pay the Fine"? ... Women's Groups Demand Measures

The Gyeongnam Women's Association Coalition called for measures on the 18th regarding the sexual harassment and defamation case involving No Chang-seop, Vice Chairman of Changwon City Council.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jucheol In] On the 18th, the Gyeongnam Women's Organizations Federation held a press conference in front of Changwon City Council, urging measures regarding the sexual harassment-related defamation case involving No Changseop, the vice chairman of Changwon City Council and chairman of the Justice Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party.

Recently, No Changseop was fined 3 million won by the court on charges of making defamatory remarks perceived as sexual harassment toward a female colleague council member.

The Gyeongnam Women's Organizations Federation stated about this incident, "We cannot help but point out the low level of gender awareness of the vice chairman of the city council," and added, "He should offer a sincere apology to the victim and the citizens of Changwon and humbly take responsibility."

They also pointed out the gender sensitivity of some council members, saying, "According to what we heard from the victim, there were actions within the council to suppress the victim's complaints, such as 'You should endure it,' and even secondary harm defending the perpetrator."

The victim council member A said, "People around me also pressured me to behave like a victim," and added, "Initially, I did not want to make this public, but No Changseop did not contact me even once until the issue became public."

Kim Yunja, representative of the Gyeongnam Women's Organizations Federation, emphasized, "Half of the citizens are women, so it is doubtful whether their public opinion is properly reflected," and stressed, "Council members representing public opinion must have a higher level of gender sensitivity than anyone else."

The organization urged, "Changwon City Council must improve gender discrimination issues within the council to ensure that the rights and policy activities of female council members are not damaged or suppressed," calling for measures to prevent recurrence.

They demanded specific measures such as strengthening gender sensitivity education for council members and establishing punishment provisions to prevent gender discrimination and sexual violence.

The Justice Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party Women's Committee stated in a position paper that day, "Since false information tends to spread here and there, the story was given as an example while advising to be cautious with words and actions as public figures, and there was no intention or purpose of defamation."

They added, "As public officials, we are required to have high ethics and awareness of gender equality, so the intention was to be more vigilant and sensitive," and apologized to the victim and others involved.

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