"Many Gender Crime Sentences with Suspended Sentences, Contrary to Sentencing Strengthening"

Sex Crime Suspended Sentence Rate
46% in 2010 → 59% in 2019
Suspended Sentences for Rape Cases Nearly Doubled

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] There have been criticisms that lenient judicial rulings on gender crimes run counter to the trend of strengthening sentencing guidelines.

Park Boksun, Senior Research Fellow at the Korean Women's Development Institute, stated at a symposium held by the Women's Policy Research Institute and the Sentencing Commission on the 8th, "In most cases, sentences lower than the statutory minimum are imposed for sexual violence crimes, or the minimum is imposed, and lenient rulings such as suspended sentences for sex offenders appear at a high rate," arguing this point.

According to the office of Kim Young-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the proportion of actual imprisonment sentences in sexual crime cases applying the Supreme Court sentencing guidelines decreased from 53.7% in 2010 to 40.9% in 2019, while suspended sentences increased from 46.3% to 59.1%. During the same period, the rate of suspended sentences in rape cases nearly doubled from 24.7% to 40.5%. Police statistics also show that the annual number of domestic violence crimes exceeded 50,000, increasing more than sevenfold compared to ten years ago, but half of these cases are closed without prosecution due to reasons such as lack of prosecution or suspension of indictment. Among sexual crimes against children and adolescents, the proportion of imprisonment sentences for ‘sex purchasing’ is only about 8.6%.

Researcher Park said, "For substantial consideration of the structural characteristics of harm according to the type of crime or act during trials, a high level of gender sensitivity in the courts must be a prerequisite," adding, "The Supreme Court’s sentencing guidelines are based on precedent, but rather than following sentencing practices, it is necessary to actively reflect the positions of victims, investigative agencies, women's organizations, and civic groups to establish proper sentencing guidelines." He also pointed out the problem of setting ‘withdrawal of complaint’ as a special sentencing factor, saying, "The perception that light punishment is given if only an agreement is reached even after committing sexual violence does not help prevent sexual violence crimes."

According to the Supreme Court’s analysis of sentencing reasons for sex offenders, 70.9% of 4,826 individuals were judged to have shown sincere remorse. In response, Lee Mi-kyung, Director of the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center, said, "There was a case where a defendant who was on trial made five unilateral donations to the Sexual Violence Counseling Center and then received a suspended sentence," and countered, "What victims want is a genuine apology, but actions such as attending the offender’s sexual violence prevention education and making donations are directed toward the court."

She added, "In a social atmosphere that almost equates suspended sentences with acquittal, victims are actually avoiding the offenders," and emphasized, "There needs to be reflection on the situation where the court forgives even though the victim has not forgiven."

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