Jihyun Park Proposes Removing 'Victim Complainant' Phrase from Party Ethics Code to Innovation Committee

Proposal for Preventing 'Power-Based Sexual Violence' Within the Party
Park Ji-hyun "No System for Handling Sexual Crimes Within the Party"
Mandatory Gender Equality Education System for Leadership and Others

The 'Next Democratic Party (NDP)', a youth group within the party to which former Democratic Party Emergency Committee Chair Park Ji-hyun belongs, proposed reform measures to the Democratic Party Innovation Committee to prevent power-based sexual violence. They urged the removal of the term 'victim complainant' from the party's ethical code and called for the establishment of a system to conduct gender equality education within the party, including the party leadership.

On the morning of the 5th, Next Democratic Party held a 'Discussion on Eradicating Power-Based Sexual Crimes' at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, where they discussed the proposed reforms. The discussion was hosted by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-min and Next Democratic Party. Launched in mid-last month, Next Democratic Party consists of about ten reform-minded politicians in their 20s and 30s within the party.

At the discussion, former Chair Park said, "On April 26 last year, while serving as chair, I was informed about the sexual violence case involving independent lawmaker Park Wan-joo," and opened by stating, "Regardless of who the leader was, a stable system should have been in place to handle the case with the primary principle of protecting the victim, but that was not the case at all."

She continued, "While handling the case, I was deeply shocked by the fact that there was no system within the party to deal with sexual crimes," adding, "The Democratic Party had already lost the public's trust due to numerous power-based sexual crime cases. After experiencing three sexual crime cases, a system should have been established and settled long ago," she criticized.

According to the legal community, the day before, lawmaker Park was indicted without detention on charges of sexually harassing a secretary in 2021.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, former Chair Park read aloud a statement from the victim of lawmaker Park's sexual violence. She said, "I ask the Democratic Party to reflect on why it has earned the stigma of being a party insensitive to gender issues and sexual crimes, to address the silence of politicians within the party after the incident, and the leniency among politicians of certain generations, so that it can be reborn as a healthier and safer party."

They demanded that the currently vacant head of the party's Gender Violence Reporting Center be appointed to upgrade its functions and that the center head be granted the authority to convene the party affairs committee in the event of a sexual crime.

They also argued that to establish a support system for the daily recovery of victims of power-based sexual crimes, a victim recovery support system, including psychological counseling for victims and helpers, should be built at the central party level. They stated that immediate separation of perpetrators and victims should be possible to improve the system.

They called for amendments to laws, party regulations, and ethical codes related to sexual violence. They pointed out that the term 'victim complainant' in Article 14 of the ethical code should be deleted and that the concept of secondary damage should be explicitly stated in the ethical code. They also said that Article 46 of the National Assembly Act should mandate the convening of the Ethics Committee within 14 days.

They demanded the establishment of a gender equality education system in the form of workshops for current lawmakers, organization heads, and party leaders within the party. They also proposed that gender equality protocol guidelines be enacted for use within the organizations supporting organization heads and lawmakers.

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