If No Party Involved, Punishment Under 'Defamation and Insult' Not Sexual Violence Punishment Act
In Past 3 Years, 92 of 174 Disciplinary Students at National Universities (52.9%) Due to 'Sexual Misconduct'
"This Is Really the n-Bang Room, It Would Be a Big Problem If Leaked," Awareness of Issues Also Raised
Suspicious circumstances of 'group chatroom sexual harassment' at a university. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] "How are your group chat rooms doing?"
This is part of a poster at Cheongju National University of Education that brought to light the issue of 'group chat room sexual harassment' by some enrolled students in November 2019. At that time, six male students at Cheongju National University of Education were prosecuted and fined for allegedly evaluating the appearance of two female classmates and sexually insulting them in a group chat, as well as mocking elementary school students they met during teaching practice.
Such 'group chat room sexual harassment,' where third parties gather and talk without the victim present, does not fall under obscene acts using communication media, so it can only be punished as defamation or insult. According to Article 13 of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act on 'obscene acts using communication media,' the sexual harassment remarks must reach the other party, which is not met in this case.
If sexual jokes are made or obscene materials are posted targeting people in the group chat, it qualifies as 'obscene acts using communication media' and can be punished by imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 5 million won. Defamation carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to 5 million won, and insult carries up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 2 million won.
The problem is that despite having a sense of the issue themselves, such remarks continue to be made in group chats. In the previously controversial Chungbuk National University group chat, male students said things like "We are total trash. If this gets out, we're dead." When it was revealed last July that male students sexually harassed female students in a group chat at a university in Busan, some students were reportedly anxious, saying, "This is really like the n-th room, it would be a big problem if leaked."
There have even been cases where concrete plans for sexual crimes were discussed. On August 31, allegations arose that some male students at Korea Aerospace University exchanged sexually harassing conversations targeting female students and staff. The author, who identified as a victim of group chat sexual harassment, said, "(The victims) were exposed to the perpetrators and sexually objectified simply because they attended the same classes, encountered them on campus, or had their cameras on during mandatory remote classes."
They added, "Moreover, the perpetrators' conversations included not only evaluations or mockery but also specific crime plans, so the possibility of the crimes actually being carried out cannot be ruled out."
According to materials disclosed by the author, they mentioned names of students and professors and continued conversations such as "Let's shoot a body cam right now and do deepfake," "Let's induce nude photos," "Possible to take off underwear," and "What if she gets pregnant from her first experience?"
When the conversation contents of past group chat sexual harassment incidents were revealed, netizens could not hide their anger. They criticized, saying, "I only heard about it, but seeing it like this is really disgusting," "The group chat at the education university is truly shocking. They want to become teachers?" and "This will never disappear in the future. There must have been many more undisclosed incidents from the past."
According to a survey, sexual misconduct on university campuses is at a serious level. Sexual misconduct includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, public indecency, hidden camera filming, dating violence, and sexual harassment in KakaoTalk group chats, all classified as sexual misconduct grounds for disciplinary action.
On the 19th, Kang Deuk-gu (Democratic Party, Anyang Manan), a member of the National Assembly Education Committee, received data from 11 national universities nationwide on 'student disciplinary status on campus over the past three years.' From 2018 to this year, a total of 174 students were disciplined on campus. Among them, 92 cases (52.9%) were due to 'sexual misconduct,' accounting for an overwhelming proportion.
By university, Kyungpook National University had the highest number of sexual misconduct cases at 17, followed by Pusan National University and Chungbuk National University with 15 each, and Seoul National University ranked fourth with 13. Notably, at Chungbuk National University last year, 13 students from the Department of Agricultural Economics were disciplined with suspensions ranging from one month to up to two years for the 'group chat sexual harassment' incident.
Assemblyman Kang said, "Even after the 2019 Cheongju National University of Education group chat sexual harassment incident, group chat sexual harassment at universities continues to be exposed from time to time," and urged, "Schools must actively engage in all procedures related to investigating sexual misconduct cases and impose strict disciplinary measures to prevent recurrence."
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