On the morning of December 17 last year, citizens wearing masks are commuting at Gwanghwamun Station on Seoul Subway Line 5. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] A controversy has arisen after a woman collapsed on the subway, but the men nearby did not take any rescue action and remained passive.
On the 4th, a post titled "An Incident on the Subway" was uploaded to an online community. According to the author, a woman collapsed on Seoul Subway Line 3 on the 3rd. The writer explained the situation at the time, saying, "The collapsed woman was wearing short shorts and rain boots, exposing a bit of her body. Because of this, none of the men in that car tried to support or help her."
He added, "In the end, middle-aged women and young women helped and supported the woman out of the subway."
Most community users expressed concerns about potential harm caused by physical contact during the process of helping women, saying things like, "You don’t touch a woman who isn’t your family recklessly," "It’s not that they didn’t help, but that they couldn’t," "When a woman collapses, stepping forward to help might lead to being falsely accused of sexual harassment, so it’s wiser to just stay still," and "I’ve seen many cases where women trying to help ended up handcuffed."
On the other hand, some users countered, saying, "If such a situation happened right in front of me, I think I would help somehow," "Is it right to have such worries even when a person collapses?" "Shouldn’t saving the person come first?" and "No matter what happens, if help is needed, you should help."
Some also responded, "It’s really sad that people can’t help because they’re scared of other things when someone collapses," and "It’s unfortunate, but I think I wouldn’t be able to help either. How did it come to this?"
Regarding this, on the 5th, Seoul Metro Corporation explained, "We have never heard of any station staff being accused of sexual harassment due to physical contact with someone they helped inside the subway station."
Meanwhile, on the 8th of last month, a man who was accused of sexual harassment while helping a woman who collapsed in a restroom was acquitted in the first trial. Mr. A helped Ms. B, who had vomited without closing the door in a restaurant restroom in Daejeon last year and then sat down outside. During this process, Ms. B reported to the police that Mr. A touched her body, but Mr. A insisted he was only helping the collapsed Ms. B and expressed his frustration.
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