Sexual Exploitation, Out

The Asia Business Daily's investigative report, "Sexual Exploitation, Out," has received the 28th International Amnesty Media Award. On March 23, the Korean branch of International Amnesty held an award ceremony at the Press Club on the 20th floor of the Korea Press Center in Seoul, according to an announcement on the 24th. The International Amnesty Media Awards select media coverage that has contributed to the advancement of human rights over the past year. Approximately 70 people, including award recipients, journalists, and human rights advocacy activists, attended the event. In addition to The Asia Business Daily, the main award was given to the following works: ▲The Hankyoreh's "Hidden Deaths of Migrant Workers at Salt Farms" ▲The Korea Times' "Filicide and Suicide: Recording the Tragedy" ▲EBS' "Children in Crisis, Invisible Rescue Signals" ▲Segye Ilbo's "While You Were Sleeping" ▲Maeil Labor News' "Serial Reports on Suspected Overwork Deaths at London Bagel Museum" ▲KBS' "We We

The Korea branch of Amnesty International announced on March 11 that it has selected "Sexual Exploitation, Out," a special report by The Asia Business Daily reporter Hyunju Lee, as the winner of the 28th Amnesty International Press Award Grand Prize. "Sexual Exploitation, Out" highlights the vulnerability of youths to sexual exploitation crimes through online channels such as social networking services (SNS) and messengers, and examines the insufficiency of legal and social safety nets. Through interviews with experts, including Linda Barrington-Leach, Secretary General of the 5Rights Foundation, the report presented concrete measures to protect children and adolescents in digital environments, which subsequently led to the introduction of related legislation. Other Grand Prize winners include: ▲ The Hankyoreh's "Buried Alive: The Hidden Deaths of Migrant Workers" ▲ The Hankook Ilbo's "Filicide-Suicide: Documenting a Tragedy" ▲ EBS's "Children in Crisis: Invisible Rescue Signals" ▲ Seg

The Asia Business Daily's special feature article "Sexual Exploitation, Out" (planned and reported by reporter Lee Hyunju of the Special Reporting Team) has won the Grand Prize (Minister of Gender Equality and Family Award) in the reporting category at the Gender Equality Media Awards. The Korea Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education, under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, held the 27th Gender Equality Media Awards ceremony at Seoul's Ferrum Tower on December 9, awarding a total of 20 outstanding broadcast and news reports. The Gender Equality Media Awards were established in 1999 to strengthen the social role of broadcasting and media in spreading the values of gender equality and to widely promote outstanding broadcast programs and news reports. "Sexual Exploitation, Out" was reported by The Asia Business Daily from April to September of this year, persistently tracking and exposing the issue of child sexual exploitation occurring on social networking servic

The ruling party has introduced a proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would make preservation requests?a prerequisite for joining the Cybercrime Convention (commonly known as the Budapest Convention)?legally mandatory. A preservation request is a system that allows for the retention of digital evidence before it is deleted during the investigation stage, and it is considered an essential measure for effectively responding to new types of digital crime. This is a prerequisite for joining the Cybercrime Convention. On October 2, Kim Hangyu, a member of the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, sponsored an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would allow investigative authorities to request information and communications service providers to preserve electronic evidence during the investigation stage. The aim is to introduce preservation requests into existing law to strengthen the response to cybercrime and

"The consequences of digital companies prioritizing profit over children's privacy and safety are devastating. The burden is borne by children, communities, and society as a whole." Linda Barrington-Leach, Secretary General of the 5rights Foundation and a speaker at the 47th Global Privacy Assembly, stated in an interview with Asia Economy on the 17th that the rights of children and adolescents to safety are being trampled by profit-driven digital companies. The 5rights Foundation, established in 2018 as an international non-profit organization, advocates for five essential rights in the digital environment for children and adolescents: the right to erasure, the right to information, the right to safety and support, voluntary use, and digital literacy. Barrington-Leach pointed out that the social networking services, video games, AI chatbots, and edtech platforms accessed by children and adolescents are designed solely to generate profit for companies, resulting in numerous side effec

Editor's NoteChild and adolescent prostitution is defined as sexual exploitation. This is because children and adolescents, whose sexual self-determination is not fully developed, cannot be regarded as subjects capable of sexual consent or contractual agreement. Children and adolescents, who quickly form a sense of intimacy online through social media, messengers, and anonymous platforms, are now more easily drawn into sexual exploitation crimes than in the past. According to the Center for Support of Victims of Digital Sex Crimes at the Korea Women’s Human Rights Institute, one out of four people (27.8%) who received support for digital sex crime victimization last year were teenagers. Compared to 2023, the number of teenage victims who received support from the center increased by more than 600 (an increase of 3.3 percentage points). Crimes of sexual exploitation against children and adolescents are clear acts of sexual abuse. This article examines whether there are ways to prevent s

Editor's NoteChild and youth prostitution is defined as sexual exploitation. This is because children and adolescents, whose sexual self-determination is not fully developed, cannot be regarded as parties capable of giving sexual consent or entering into contracts. Today, children and adolescents who quickly form relationships online through social media, messengers, and anonymous platforms are more easily drawn into sexual exploitation crimes than in the past. According to the Central Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center of the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, one out of every four people (27.8%) who received support for digital sex crimes last year was a teenager. Compared to 2023, the number of teenage victims who received support from the center increased by more than 600 (a 3.3 percentage point rise). Sexual exploitation crimes against children and adolescents are clear cases of sexual abuse. This article examines whether there are ways to prevent such crimes and what conc

Editor's Note Child and adolescent prostitution is defined as sexual exploitation. This is because it is difficult to view children and adolescents, whose sexual self-determination is immature, as capable of sexual consent or entering into contracts. Children and adolescents who quickly form close relationships online through social media, messengers, and anonymous platforms are now more easily drawn into sexual exploitation crimes than in the past. According to the Central Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center of the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, one in four people (27.8%) who received support for digital sexual crimes last year were teenagers. Compared to 2023, the number of teenage victims supported by the center increased by more than 600, a 3.3 percentage point rise. Crimes of child and adolescent sexual exploitation are clear sexual abuse. This article examines whether there are ways to prevent such crimes and what concrete measures are needed, based on real-life cas

Editor's NoteChild and adolescent prostitution is defined as sexual exploitation. This is because it is difficult to regard children and adolescents, whose sexual self-determination is not yet fully developed, as subjects capable of sexual consent or contractual agreement. Children and adolescents who quickly form relationships online through social media, messengers, and anonymous platforms are now more easily drawn into sexual exploitation crimes than in the past. According to the Center for Support of Victims of Digital Sex Crimes at the Korean Women’s Human Rights Institute, one in four people (27.8%) who received support for digital sex crimes last year were teenagers. Compared to 2023, the number of teenage victims supported by the center increased by more than 600, a rise of 3.3 percentage points. Sexual exploitation crimes against children and adolescents are clearly sexual abuse. This article examines whether there are ways to prevent such crimes and what specific countermeasu

Editor's NoteChild and youth prostitution is defined as sexual exploitation. This is because children and adolescents, whose sexual autonomy is not fully developed, cannot be regarded as capable of sexual consent or as parties to contracts. Children and adolescents, who quickly form intimate relationships online through social media, messengers, and anonymous platforms, are now more easily drawn into sexual exploitation crimes than in the past. According to the Central Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center of the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, one out of four people (27.8%) who received support for digital sex crime victimization last year were teenagers. Compared to 2023, the number of teenage victims who received support from the center increased by more than 600 (3.3 percentage points). Crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents are clear acts of sexual abuse. This article examines whether there are ways to prevent such crimes and what specific mea