To Address Sexual Violence Issues, "Need to Establish Policies to Prevent Secondary Harm"

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Announces 2022 Sexual Violence Safety Survey Results

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced on the 21st the results of the "2022 Sexual Violence Safety Survey," conducted last year on over 10,000 men and women aged 19 to 64.

This survey is a statutory investigation conducted under the "Act on the Prevention of Sexual Violence and Protection of Victims," aimed at understanding the actual conditions of sexual violence and establishing related policies. It is a nationally approved statistic conducted every three years. Notably, this survey was conducted with revised questions from the 2019 survey to reflect changes in policy environments, such as shifts in the patterns of sexual violence occurrence.

According to this survey, when asked whether they had ever experienced sexual violence, 9.8% of respondents reported having suffered harm through communication media such as PCs or mobile phones. This was followed by exposure to genitalia (9.3%) and sexual harassment (3.9%). There were also a significant number of cases involving illegal filming (0.3%) and distribution of filmed or false videos (0.3%). The experience of rape (including attempts) was 0.2%, slightly lower than the 0.4% reported in the 2019 survey.

Among those who responded that they had experienced sexual violence, only 2.6% said they had reported the incident to the police at least once, and just 0.6% had ever received help from victim support organizations. Victims identified the types of assistance and support they needed as follows: "provision of various information" (56.3%, multiple responses allowed), "victim counseling" (55.9%), "support for deletion and monitoring of distribution status" (48.0%), and "legal support" (42.2%).

Furthermore, when all respondents were asked about support systems for sexual violence victims, 74.4% recognized that victim support organizations exist. However, awareness was lower regarding specific systems such as "requests for deletion support of filmed materials can be made not only by the victim but also by direct relatives, siblings, or designated representatives" (42.9%) and "medical expenses for health counseling and physical and mental treatment for sexual violence victims are supported" (53.6%).

Additionally, respondents identified the most necessary measures to resolve sexual violence issues as "establishing policies to prevent secondary victimization of victims" (16.7%), followed by "creating a safe living environment" (16.6%) and "appropriate punishment for perpetrators' criminal acts" (13.9%). Over the past three years, social consensus on preventing secondary victimization has expanded, leading to increased policy demand for protecting victims' rights.

Based on these survey results, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to study overseas legislative trends regarding the reporting and punishment of sexual violence crimes and to conduct research to improve statistical quality. Additionally, this year, the ministry will support secondary victimization prevention education for personnel in investigative agencies and provide free legal support for lawsuits related to secondary victimization suffered by sexual violence victims during the handling of cases through digital content and articles.

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