Breaking the Silence: Feminist Perspectives on Sexual Violence and Gender Expectations in South Korea
Since the late 1980s, there have been a series of woman-led movements for radical reforms to tackle the growing issue of violence against women. South Korea is no exception, being a witness to the ever-growing issues of awareness of gender inequality and sexual violence, spurred by the #Metoo movement and other high-profile cases that brought attention to the issue. While the #Metoo movement tried to foster a sense of body autonomy and resistance to the violence among every Korean woman, the rooted characteristic of patriarchy and structural oppression are difficult to dismantle. A recent graph published by the Institute of Criminology reveals that the reported occurrences of sexual violence increased from 10,216 to 10,925 during two quarters of 2022, indicating a growth rate of nearly 7% .[1]It is important to note that the growing numbers determine the failure of feminist movement in South Korea. This is the reality of patriarch traditions derived from the typical societal expectations towards ‘a role of good woman’. The critical concerns involve the impact of patriarchal dominance in confining Korean women to stay home. The patriarchal structure later extends to various forms of excessive violence against women. Another worthwhile investigation is on the need for sexual offenders to change their attitude towards victims, wich must be balanced with the offenders’ human rights. The mechanism also serves as effective approach for the sexual offenders experience a certain level of consequences equivalent to the suffering endured by the victims.
The existence of social expectation of men, women and feminist jurisprudence
In October 2019, a Korean film titled ‘Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982’ was released and evoked the public reaction to the gender equality and expectation in Korean society, which is based on a novel written by Ms.Cho. Certainly, ‘Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982’ highlights the common gender expectations in Korean community and portrays traditional role assigned to women who are responsible for childcare and are under the expectation of husband’s family. The foundation of gender inequalities lies in the principles proposed by classical liberalism and liberal feminism, affirming that the societal positions of women and men arise from inherent biological differences. There is no denying that the biological distinctions could grant men inherent superiority over woman, such as the advocacy of reproductive roles between genders. Regardless of religion beliefs, man used to be the hunter and breadwinner due to their biological disposition. Usually, the men could be the active role in the family for financial income. On the other hand, the women play a passive role that is tied to their reproductive functions. In a 2014 study, the respondents between the age of 20 and 30 expressed their motivation for marriage to stabilise the economic and legal situation, regardless of socio-economic status.[2] It is evident that their reproductive role has historically placed Korean women of all economic classes in a disadvantaged position. Especially, the concept of breadwinner and housewife lies in the values of Korean women’s attitude towards marriage. However, there is a belief that utilising the biological distinctions as an explanation of gender confining women to their biological functions is backwards and perpetuates gender inequality. According to research conducted by Harvard University, the trend shows that the unmarried woman aged without children are more likely to be employed while at least 30 percentage of women aged 30 to 44 experienced employment gaps[3] In other words, the study reveals that the gender employment gap is mainly connected with the Korean women’s caregiving responsibility. Because of restricted employment opportunities, Korean women with children find it challenging to return the labour market. Consequently, this situation may contribute to a fixed family structure where the middle aged mother is compelled to remain a housewife position. The level of women’s economic interdependence has diminished, as men have gained greater opportunities in the labour market. From the perspective of Korean men, the data regarding the Korean men’s attitude towards the gender inequalities illustrates that men in their 40s and 50s are more likely to be patriarchal, with the percentage of 52.2 and 61.6 respectively.[4] Younger men are inclined to oppose feminism.[5] Even though Korean women faced the Korean’s patriarchal attitude and dominance, both in home and in workplace, women often follow their father’s decision or male senior supervisors due to the pervasive influence of Confucianism. The influence of Confucianism is the key feature of Korean organisational cultures, which values the loyalty and obedience to one’s seniors and women’s deference to men.[6] Under the effects of Confucianism affected workplace and family culture, victims of sexual violence tend not to resist the order of offenders, adopting a self-blaming attitude and enduring their suffering. It is crucial to recognise that the initial concern lies in how offenders take advantage of Confucian values and the characteristics of the patriarchal society to oppress victims. The secondary concern revolves around whether Korean sexual offenders have altered their method of oppressing female victims and their attitude towards female victims.
Photo credit: Tingey Injury Law Firm
Keeping in mind: Two remarkable cases of sexual violence in Korean Society
The Cho Doo-Soon case can be viewed as remarkable case of ignorance of victims’ fear associated with patriarchal society. In this case, an eight-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped by the perpetrator Cho Doo-soon, who suffered severe damages to her reproductive system in 2008[7]. While the perpetrator invoked intoxication as the justification of his intention, the 12-year punishment imposed on the perpetrator is considered as disproportionate to the trauma and pain endured by the victim.[8] Critics argue that the absence of clear criteria in Article 10 creates a loophole that protects the perpetrator, especially in this case where there is no concrete proof of the perpetrator having consumed a certain level of alcohol intoxication of the Criminal Act.[9] The defence counsel could raise intoxication defence for the defendant under the influence of 'drinking culture'. While the defendant could raise the intoxication defence to convince the court for a shorter sentence, the victim's trauma can last for many years. As there is always an intoxication defence, the preparator would not apologise sincerely and feel regretful about his behaviour toward the victim of sexual abuse. The way of treating victim in Cho Doo-soon case is connected to the typical oppression of women in patriarchal society. Male violence is tolerated systematically due to the states’ reluctant to intervene against male violence.[10] Due to the state’s tolerance of sexual violence, the persistent sense of insecurity imposed on women confines them to their homes, subordinate to male domination. This further shapes Korean women conforming to traditional traits, supporting various instruments of oppressing the victims in sexual violence impliedly. In particular, the victims in sexual violence case are often labelled as ‘weak’ and are expected to conform with obedience, further deepening the cycle of victimisation. [11]
It is deeply concerning to note the evolving nature of sexual violence with a growing number of female victims experiencing a new form of modern slavery under the influence of religion beliefs. A recent Netflix documentary titled’ the name of God: A Holy Betrayal’ reveals that a previous leader of Providence Church is facing the allegations of assaulting multiple female followers. Concurrently, the leader employed manipulative tactics to convince female followers that the followers are God‘s brides with the assumption of serving as the role of spouses.[12] Under Christian beliefs, the followers tend to expect the chance of redemption from saint or ’God’. In this instance, the leader positioned themselves as a divine figure in a superior role, creating circumstances that heightened expectations among female followers. The sexual offender could pretend that the offender is a son of ’God’, saving the female followers from evil through the sexual intercourse between the offender and female followers. Additionally, the leader established a hierarchy within the group, instituting a system where females could gain more influence through pleasing the leader.
Photo credit: Cesar Badilla Miranda
Stop providing the favourable treatment of sex offenders: the introduction of chemical castration
Korean women’s political participation has faced setbacks because of President Yoon’s proposal to abolish the country’s gender ministry.[13] This move signifies the obstacles for Korean women to be one of decision makers in affecting policy related to gender equality and sexual offences. With a lack of female representation, the women could seek for formal procedure to tackle the sexual violence in South Korea. Hence, relying on the reform of legislation may not be the effective approach because of lacking representation of Korean women.
Under a patriarchal society, an alternative way of tracking the sexual offences involves maximising the capacity of punishment. Commonly, death penalty is appropriate and suitable for heinous offences, such as murder. However, the implement of capital punishment has been abolished in South Korea. As sexual offenders often exploit their reproductive functions to subjugate victims, sexual offenders tend to be proud of traditional men characteristics. In response, chemical castration has been authorised as the mandatory use for the convicted sexual offenders, which involves reversible effect on recipient’s sex drive[14]. Compared to the death penalty, chemical castration is more effective than the effect of death penalty. The execution of death penalty is to deprive a sexual offender of life, which is inadequate for the deterrence effect for other sexual reoffenders. The measurement of capacity of punishment lies in instilling fear of offenders. The death penalty could only serve a short-term of deterrence effect for offenders when the offenders are being sent before the execution of death penalty. Usually, the offenders only feel guilty about the misconduct or fear the execution of the death penalty whilst on death row. On the other hand, the execution of chemical castration is a continuous and ongoing process for sexual offenders that is proportionate to the victim’s suffering. Especially, the death penalty ends someone’s life in a single moment, the chemical castration could act as a persistent reminder, reminding the offenders about the pain of victims at the material time. Therefore, it is suggested that the South Korean government should place more weight on the measurement of chemical castration and the effect of chemical castration on sexual offenders.
There is no denying that there are conflicting interests between Korean women and the patriarchal society. With the oppression of patriarchal society and the influence of Confucianism, it seems that Korean women find a political position with a certain level of difficulty. However, chemical castration may be a viable punishment, which safeguards women’s rights.
[1] Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics ‘Number of occurrences of sexual violence (2017-2021)’
https://www.kicj.re.kr/crimestats/portal/stat/easyStatCrimeEngPage/350000.do accessed 03 March 2024
[2] Bo-Hwa Kim, Jae Kyung Lee, and Hyunjoon Park, 'Marriage, Independence and Adulthood among Unmarried Women in South Korea,' in 'Becoming an Adult in East Asia: Multidisciplinary and Comparative Approaches' (2016) 44(3) Asian Journal of Social Science, 338-362
[3] Anna Stansbury, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard and Karen Dynan ‘Gender gaps in South Korea’s labour market: children explain most of the gender employment gap, but little of the gender wage gap’ (2023), Applied Economics Letters, 1-6
[4] Jake Kwon, ‘South Korea’s young men are fighting against feminism’ CNN (23 September 2019) https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/21/asia/korea-angry-young-men-intl-hnk/index.html accessed 3 March 2024
[5] Ibid
[6] Jackson Stevi, Jieyu Liu, and Juhyun Woo ‘East Asian sexualities: Modernity, Gender and New Sexual Cultures.’ (eds) (Bloomsbury Publishing 2009)
[7] Ock Hyun-ju, ‘Wife of child rapist Cho Doo-soon defends him as ‘polite person’ ’ The Korea Herald ( Seoul, 30 May 2019) https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190530000609 accessed 3 March 2024
[8] William Lee , ‘South Korea: Child rapist's release sparks demand for change’ BBC (London, 5 January 2021) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-55465099 accessed 3 March 2024
[9]Chaerin Kang, ‘Flaws of Article 9, 10, and 26 of the Criminal Act in South Korea and Possible Solutions’ (2020) Technium Social Sciences Journal, 11, 104-[xii].
[10] Abeda Sultana ‘Patriarchy and Women’s Subordination: A Theoretical Analysis’ (2010) Arts Faculty Journal, 1-18.
[11] Pamela Davies, Feminist Voices, Gender and Victimisation In: Handbook on Victims and Victimology (2nd Ed.) (2017), 107-123.
[12] Stephen McCarty, ‘South Korean religious cults and their monstrous leaders described in Netflix’s grimly fascinating documentary series In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal’ South China Morning Post (Hong Kong, 1 April 2023) https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3216297/south-korean-religious-cults-and-their-monstrous-leaders-described-netflixs-grimly-fascinating Accessed 3 March 2024
[13] Justin McCurry, ‘Outcry as South Korean president tries to scrap gender equality ministry to ‘protect’ women’ The Guardian (Tokyo, 7 October 2022) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/07/outcry-as-south-korean-president-tries-to-scrap-gender-equality-ministry-to-protect-women#:~:text=South%20Korea's%20president%2C%20Yoon%20Suk,an%20improvement%20in%20women's%20rights. Accessed 3 March 2024
[14] Jonathan Pugh'Why is chemical castration being used on sex offenders in some countries?' (The Conversation, 16 June 2016) https://theconversation.com/why-is-chemical-castration-being-used-on-sex-offenders-in-some-countries-60979 Accessed 3 March 2024