Gwangju Special School Sexual Assault Allegations... City Education Office Criticized for 'Lukewarm Response'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] Despite allegations of sexual assault among students at a special school in Gwangju, the lukewarm attitude of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education has come under scrutiny.

The Office of Education maintains that there is no legal or regulatory way to intervene, but there are calls for action from the highest authority responsible for education in Gwangju.

According to the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education on the 13th, in June, the family of victim A, a student at a special school in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, raised concerns with the school after learning that she had received a pregnancy test kit from the alleged perpetrator.

The school held a School Violence Countermeasure Deliberation Committee meeting in July but reportedly took no significant action citing "insufficient evidence." Consequently, the parents claiming victim status filed a police complaint on the 11th.

Despite this situation, the Office of Education has drawn criticism for its passive stance.

It was confirmed that although the Office of Education was initially aware of the sexual assault allegations, aside from separating the victim and the alleged perpetrator, no other administrative measures such as fact-finding were taken.

Moreover, the two students?one claiming to be the victim and the other identified as the perpetrator?are currently not attending school, and only one other student identified as an additional perpetrator is attending, so no substantial measures have been implemented.

Regarding this, the Office of Education stated that it can only take follow-up actions based on the decisions of the Deliberation Committee concerning the sexual assault case.

When sexual assault occurs at a school, it must be reported to the relevant Education Support Office, which then informs the Metropolitan Office of Education according to the School Violence Countermeasure Deliberation Committee manual. If the committee recognizes the sexual assault, only measures such as forced transfer can be taken.

Mr. Kim, a resident of Gwangsan-gu, said, "The Office of Education, responsible for education, is hiding behind laws and regulations and showing a careless response. They should actively investigate the allegations rather than just relying on the results of the School Violence Countermeasure Committee."

Ms. Park, who has a child with intellectual disabilities, lamented, "Due to the delayed response and inadequate follow-up by the school and the Office of Education, children who have difficulty expressing themselves cannot escape the shadow of school violence."

In response, a Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education official explained, "When a report is made to the Education Support Office in charge of the school, a School Violence Countermeasure Deliberation Committee is convened, and the Office of Education only takes follow-up actions based on the results. That is what the law and regulations stipulate. Since there are differing opinions between the victim and the perpetrator, the Office of Education cannot intervene until a result is reached."

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