'Anti-Stalking and Victim Protection Act' Approved by the National Assembly's Gender and Family Committee

Includes stalking scope regulations and prevention education
Specifies qualification criteria for support facilities
Scheduled for plenary session after passing the Legislation and Judiciary Committee

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The "Stalking Prevention and Victim Protection Act," which protects stalking victims and allows them to receive support at victim support facilities if they wish, has passed the National Assembly's standing committee. This comes about two months after social attention was focused on the "Sindang Station Stalking Murder Case" in September.

The National Assembly's Gender and Family Committee held a plenary meeting on the afternoon of the 24th and passed the "Act on Prevention of Stalking and Protection of Victims" (Stalking Victim Protection Act) as the committee's alternative bill.

The Gender and Family Committee had previously approved the Stalking Victim Protection Act at the bill review subcommittee held the day before.

The bill defines the scope of stalking to include stalking crimes as stipulated in the "Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes" (Stalking Punishment Act) and stalking behaviors. A stalking victim is defined as "a person who has been directly harmed by stalking."

Additionally, the bill mandates that national agencies and local governments conduct stalking prevention education, and allows heads of investigative agencies to provide necessary training to personnel involved in handling cases.

It also obligates the prohibition of specific disadvantages against victims or those who report stalking when employed, and stipulates that, upon the victim's request, work contact information or workplace location can be changed.

The state or local governments must establish and operate victim support facilities, and abbreviate victims and their family members as "victims, etc." to enable them to receive support at these facilities.

The bill sets qualification criteria for support facilities, prohibiting individuals who have been sentenced for stalking crimes and have served part of their sentence or whose sentence has ended from working at support facilities for up to 10 years from the date of probation or exemption.

The Stalking Victim Protection Act and some partial amendments approved on this day are expected to be submitted to the National Assembly plenary session after passing through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

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