Ministry of Gender Equality designates 7 regional specialized counseling centers early this year
Supports 2,682 cases including counseling, deletion, and investigation assistance in the first half of the year
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will expand the number of regional specialized counseling centers for digital sex crimes to 10 next year.
On the 4th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced that the regional specialized counseling centers for digital sex crimes, introduced for the first time this year, supported 2,682 cases in the first half of the year, including illegal filming deletion support, counseling, and investigation assistance. Among these, 9.7% of the support cases were male victims, including teenage adolescents.
As new forms of digital sex crimes increase, the Ministry operates specialized counseling centers separately from existing sexual violence counseling centers, designating seven regional violence victim support organizations as specialized counseling centers considering the unique characteristics of the victims.
The seven designated specialized counseling centers are Gyeongnam 1366 Center, Gyeongbuk Women's Integrated Counseling Center, Daegu Women's Human Rights Counseling Center, Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center, Jeonbuk Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Center's affiliated Sexual Violence Counseling Center, Jeju YWCA Sexual Violence Counseling Center, and Chungnam 1366 Center.
Each specialized counseling center assigns two professional counselors with understanding of digital sex crimes and experience in victim counseling to provide initial victim counseling, investigation assistance, and medical support.
In cases requiring urgent support such as deletion of illegal filming, the centers request the platform operators to delete the illegal content and coordinate with the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute’s ‘Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center’ to monitor additional distribution.
In the second half of the year, each specialized counseling center plans to focus on operating specialized services reflecting the characteristics of digital sex crimes, such as in-depth psychological counseling and healing recovery programs that help with trauma treatment.
Deputy Minister Kim Kyung-sun will visit the 1366 Chungnam Center on the day to check the status of support for digital sex crime victims and COVID-19 quarantine measures. She will listen to on-site opinions regarding efficient linkage methods between the violence victim support system and specialized counseling centers.
Deputy Minister Kim said, "I appreciate the efforts of workers on the ground who are striving to prevent the spread of digital sex crime victims, which could worsen in the COVID-19 situation with increased non-face-to-face activities," and added, "We will gradually expand the operation areas of specialized counseling centers and strengthen cooperation and linkage among related organizations to reinforce the regional digital sex crime response system."
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