"Can I Help You?" Impoverished Youth at Risk of Sexual Exploitation on 'Random Chatting' Platforms

'nbunbang', 'Baksabang' perpetrators use chat apps to approach minor victims
Most youth involved in sex trade suffer from family conflicts and poverty
Experts say "It's important to establish technical defense systems suited for sex crimes in the IT era"

Jo Joo-bin (24), the operator of the Telegram 'Baksa Bang' who threatened women including minors to produce and distribute illegal sexual exploitation videos, is being transferred to the prosecution at Jongno Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 25th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporters Seunggon Han and Intern Reporter Juhyung Lim] The suspects involved in the production and distribution of sexually exploitative materials by threatening minors and women, such as in the 'Nth Room' and 'Doctor's Room' cases, are known to have mainly used random chat applications to lure minors facing economic difficulties. They threatened victims to produce sexually exploitative content after obtaining personal information such as contact numbers and addresses by promising high-paying part-time jobs.

Some users of these chat applications exploit the anonymity of random chats to approach adolescents and attempt sexual exploitation. Particularly, runaway youths, children from impoverished or neglected families, who are more likely to face economic hardships, are placed in environments more vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

A, who was a victim of the 'Doctor's Room' during middle school, explained in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 24th, "While worrying about a lack of living expenses, I was offered a 'sponsor part-time job' through a chat app," adding, "The person who contacted me said they would send money and a phone, but demanded personal information such as bank account number, name, address, and phone number," describing how they came into contact with the sexual exploitation perpetrator.

A stated that minors, including themselves, came into contact with perpetrators through such sponsor part-time jobs on chat apps. They said, "There are a huge number of messages looking for sponsor part-time jobs on chat apps," and added, "Most users are students on dating apps or Twitter accounts. (Perpetrators) probably demanded sexual exploitation even more from minors who have no experience with social life."

According to a 2016 human rights survey conducted by the National Human Rights Commission targeting workers related to children and adolescents involved in prostitution, youths who entered prostitution generally faced issues such as poverty and family discord. The most common reasons for entering prostitution were having no place to stay (35.0%) and being offered money (32.0%).

The most common type of youth prostitution was one-on-one arranged meetings (88.3%), and the most common route into prostitution was smartphone random chat apps (59.2%).

About 80% of youths reported being mistreated by sex buyers. Specific cases included not receiving the promised payment (53.4%) and contracting sexually transmitted infections (47.6%). There were also significant cases of verbal abuse, assault, and threats (36.9%), forced perverse acts (28.2%), and coerced video recording (15.5%).

A 2018 survey by the Daegu Crisis Youth Education Center (Daegu Education Center) of 201 sexually exploited youths found that the biggest reason for entering prostitution was "securing living expenses after running away from home" (44.8%).

Urging Active Investigation into the Sharing of Sexual Exploitation Materials in the 'Nth Room' / Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding this, Nam Eun-ju, director of the Daegu Education Center, stated at a policy forum held by the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) on September 4 last year, "The youths I met in counseling were in poverty to the extent they did not even have bus fare, and they were drawn into prostitution in an online environment where sex buyers are rampant," adding, "Many of them suffer domestic violence, so even if they are sent home, they have no choice but to run away again."

Experts emphasized the importance of establishing technologies and systems optimized for sexual exploitation crimes in the IT era.

Jo Jin-kyung, head of the Teenage Women's Human Rights Center, said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 26th, "Since the spread of smartphones, random chat apps have become the most important medium for child sexual exploitation," and added, "Children from impoverished and neglected families have mainly been drawn into prostitution, but recently, cases of children from ordinary families being victimized are increasing, making this a major social problem."

She continued, "What is important is to establish technical defense systems so that sexual exploiters do not feel safe," emphasizing, "Real-name verification should be introduced in chat apps to prevent criminals from hiding behind anonymity, and authorities need to establish dedicated departments and sentencing guidelines suitable for the digital sex crime era."

Meanwhile, the government announced a 'Comprehensive Youth Protection Plan' on May 2 last year, stating that it would review measures to protect youths from random chat apps.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to cooperate with app distributors to regularly inspect random chat apps and operate a system where distributors voluntarily regulate apps that are unsafe for youths.

*If you experience difficulties such as illegal filming or distribution of photos or videos, threats using such materials, or sexual harassment in cyberspace, you can receive support from the Women's Emergency Hotline 1366 or the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center (02-735-8994).