[SOCIETY] The Shadow Over Our Society
[SOCIETY] The Shadow Over Our Society
  • Park Yun-ji (ST Reporter)
  • 승인 2013.04.09 12:26
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Sex Crimes - The State and Strategy
 
Constantly increasing sex crimes
 
 The media has been covering stories related to sex crimes for days and months now. It seems that the cases of sex crimes are increasing all of a sudden. The statistics released by the National Police Agency indeed shows that the number of sex crimes nationwide has been steadily rising. Much concern about this has been raised. Let’s take a look into how the authorities are dealing with this matter.
 
 
The cause of the rising rates of sex crimes
 
  There are many probable factors contributing to the rise in the number of sex crimes in the country. One of the biggest factors is the collapse of the community in the modern society. The weakening of people’s relationships has resulted in a weakened social security network. As the number of double-income families has increased, so has the time that the kids spend alone. Also, the number of single women has risen, but our society has yet to be equipped with the proper safety network that can protect them all. 
 
 Furthermore, as the polarization of wealth has become more serious, those who are situated on the opposite poles of the society are exposed to circumstances that may lead them to crimes, either as violators or as victims. Most ex-convicts have had an underprivileged childhood and have low educational attainment, leading them to be situated on one of the lowest rungs of the social ladder, economically speaking. Environmental deficiency is another major cause of the increase in the number of criminals. 
 
 There are many more reasons for the rise in the number of sex crimes other than those mentioned above, such as the rapidly increasing pornography in the Internet, the light punishment imposed on sexual offenders, and the imperfect institutional devices for defending sexual assault victims.
 
 
The government’s approach with regard to the perpetrators of sex crimes
 
 The authorities are currently implementing many policies to stamp out and prevent sex crimes, such as toughening up the prison sentence for sex offenders under the age of 13. The sentence for rape conviction will be raised from five years of prison labor to seven years. Sexual molesters will be more heavily punished, from a year of prison labor or 5-30 million won to three years of prison labor or 10-30 million won. In addition, sex offenders will have to wear the mandatory electronic anklet, depending on the severity of the crime committed and how likely it is that the offender will repeat the offense, and their identities will be revealed to the public. Also, criminals convicted of sex crimes will have to attend lectures, will be subjected to a case study, and will have to undergo physical and mental training for a certain period of time, to correct their criminal nature.
 
 
The government’s approach with regard to the victims
 
 Rape victims can avail of various support programs from a center specializing in sex crime victims, such as counseling, medical care, and legal advice, depending on the victim’s condition. They can also use or keep in touch with protection facilities should they so desire. Furthermore, the medical expenses of sexual violence victims suffering from physical and/or psychological trauma will be shouldered by the counseling center or medical institution attending to them. As a rule, all their medical expenses will be fully shouldered, but when such expenses exceed 3 million won, a committee made up of representatives from the local government, medical institution, and counseling center will determine how the expenses will be paid.
 
 
Focus on supporting the victim than on punishing the offender
Need to change the social attitudes
 
 To ease the social disturbance, the government announced its plan to raise the budget for eradicating sexual violence within the overall budget for the coming year by 54%, to 405.5 billion won from this year’s 263.1 billion won. Also, more CCTVs will be set up in the areas where such crimes are more likely to be committed. It seems, however, that the support for the victims is not enough. According to a one-stop support center, for example, a victim with severe injuries needs 3-5 million won for surgery alone, and needs much more for complete recovery. Moreover, victims from lower-income groups are having trouble obtaining medical treatment and depend only on government assistance.
 
▲ Drawing of a victim describing a rapist (source:KBS)
 
 South Korean society, which has very little understanding of the nature of sex crimes, bears much of the responsibility for the rising rates of such crimes. The government should more vigorously enforce a continuous citizen protection and care system, but insisting on greater administrative responsibility isn’t enough. For the females and kids in our society to live safely and freely, the whole social attitude should change. To correct our distorted notions about sexuality and gender, we need to conduct more related researches and to offer more education about sexuality to the public.
 
 

 


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