Lee and Yoon Unite: "We Will Create a Safe Country for Women" ... It Depends on Improving 'Perceived Safety'

Both Ruling and Opposition Presidential Candidates Emphasize "Women's Safety" Pledges
Korea's Public Security Self-Assessed as "World-Class," but Women's "Perceived Safety" Remains Low
Last Year's Ministry of Gender Equality Survey: 8 out of 10 Women Report Feeling Unsafe
Increase in Crimes Against Women Such as Dating Violence and Illegal Filming
Experts Highlight Issues Like Heinous Crimes Targeting Single Women Households

A female 'Safe Return Scout' in Seoul City. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] As the 20th presidential election approaches, the candidates from both ruling and opposition parties are focusing intently on pledges related to 'women's safety.' This appears to be a strategic move to consolidate female votes by addressing public safety, one of the most important issues for female voters in South Korea.

Although South Korea is known to boast one of the highest levels of public safety among advanced countries, there exists a 'gender gap' in this regard. According to a survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF), most women still report feeling unsafe in Korean society. Experts point out that to resolve women's safety issues, it is urgent to improve women's 'perceived safety.'

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, wrote on his Facebook on the 3rd, "I will become a president who ensures women's safety," adding, "Women still suffer from the double burden of structural discrimination and anxiety in society."

He continued, "I will eliminate gender discrimination and guarantee a better life for women," promising, "Especially, I will protect women's daily lives from sexual crimes." Lee also pledged measures to eradicate crimes against women, including ▲enacting a law to punish dating violence ▲improving sentencing mitigation factors for sexual crimes ▲abolishing the conditional non-prosecution clause for stalking crimes.

At a women-focused rally held in front of Times Square in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Lee emphasized again, "Women still feel anxiety even at this very moment," and said, "I will take responsibility for creating a safe country where no one worries about crime."

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate (above), and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, both announced pledges on 'women's safety.' / Photo by Yonhap News, Facebook capture

Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, also declared his 'women's safety' pledge on the same day. Although Yoon has faced criticism from some women's groups and other presidential candidates for advocating the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as part of his youth policy, he appears determined not to back down on public safety issues. On his Facebook, he introduced a 'one-line pledge' stating "A Korea where women are safe" and "Declaration of war against sexual crimes."

Some point out that the main cause of domestic women's public safety issues lies in low 'perceived safety.' Despite improvements in Korean society's public safety over the past decades, women do not feel these improvements personally.

In fact, the National Police Agency announced that in a 2019 safety survey related to public safety, it achieved the highest-ever results. The key indicator, 'crime safety index,' scored 80.3 points, marking a record high.

The crime safety index is calculated by randomly asking general citizens two questions: how safe they feel from crimes such as theft and violence, and how safe they feel from crimes such as robbery and murder, then scoring their responses. This means that the majority of citizens evaluated Korean society as generally safe from both minor crimes like pickpocketing and serious crimes like murder or assault.

At that time, the National Police Agency expressed confidence, stating, "The Korea Tourism Organization's survey on foreign visitors also rated public safety as the best for seven consecutive years," and "This confirms once again that our country's crime safety is maintained at a world-class level."

According to a report released last year by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, only 21.6% of women responded that they felt "very/somewhat safe" regarding crime safety in Korea. / Photo by Yonhap News

The problem lies in the fact that women's perceived safety shows a marked difference from these indicators.

According to the '2021 Women's Life in Statistics' report released last year by MOGEF, only 21.6% of women who responded to the ministry's survey answered that they feel 'very/somewhat safe' regarding crime safety in Korea. In other words, 8 out of 10 women still live with anxiety about crime.

MOGEF points to the sharp rise in 'gender crimes' as the cause of the gap between overall public safety and women's crime anxiety. That is, violence primarily victimizing women in daily life, such as stalking, dating violence, digital sexual crimes, and sexual violence, has increased.

The report stated that the number of dating violence crimes apprehended in 2019 increased by about 36.2% compared to six years earlier in 2013, stalking crimes rose by 86.2%, and the number of arrests for digital sexual crimes such as illegal filming reached 5,151 in 2020, which is 3.8 times higher than ten years ago.

A protest condemning biased investigations and biased judgments on illegal filming held at Hyehwa Station, Seoul in 2018 / Photo by Yonhap News

The increase in arrests can be interpreted as Korean society becoming more sensitive to crimes against women, leading to higher reporting and arrest rates than before. However, it also means that such crime cases have been increasingly exposed in the media and broadcasts. Especially since dating violence and illegal filming can occur anytime in daily life, women's anxiety inevitably rises.

Women's voices protesting gender crimes are also growing louder. In 2018, tens of thousands of women took to the streets in a 'Protest against biased investigations and rulings on illegal filming' held at Hyehwa Station in Seoul.

Also, the domestic 'MeToo movement' was triggered when Prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun publicly disclosed her experience of sexual violence within the prosecution organization the same year, shaking schools, workplaces, the arts community, and even politics.

Experts point out that the 'contagion of fear' can amplify women's anxiety.

Oh Yoon-sung, a professor of Police Administration at Soonchunhyang University, explained, "The gap between improvements in crime statistics and increasing psychological anxiety can actually occur," adding, "This is because dating violence, stalking, and heinous crimes targeting women are increasing, and these crimes are widely reported in the media, which amplifies their impact."

He particularly noted, "Recently, the number of single-woman households is increasing, and violent crimes targeting them have become more frequent. When the fear that women living alone can be targets spreads, anxiety inevitably grows regardless of crime statistics," emphasizing the need to prepare countermeasures.

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