Yongin City Selected as a 'Women-Friendly City' by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family

Implementing Various Women-Friendly Policies Including Support for Stalking and Dating Violence Victims

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 2nd that it has been designated as a Women-Friendly City by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, maintaining this status for the next five years.

A Women-Friendly City is a certification system that guarantees equal participation opportunities for women in social activities and ensures values such as care and safety enhancement. The designation is determined by evaluating 12 indicators across five areas, including the proportion of female public officials in managerial positions, establishment of gender-sensitive statistics, governance operation, and key projects in women's capacity building.

Participants are discussing in the 'Deep Now, Everyone's Gender Equality' program conducted by Yongin City to promote a culture of gender equality.
[Photo by Yongin City]

This year, 22 local governments applied for the evaluation, and 15, including Yongin City, were designated as Women-Friendly Cities.

Since being designated as a Women-Friendly City in 2013, the city has established and implemented support policies, gaining recognition as a city where women can live well by securing women's social status and creating a family-friendly environment. Since 2014, the city has set five major goals: ▲building a foundation for gender equality policies ▲expanding women's economic and social participation ▲enhancing community safety ▲creating a family-friendly environment ▲strengthening women's capacity for community activities, and has developed various policies accordingly.

In particular, the city has signed agreements with the police and women's violence counseling centers to launch the nationwide first 'WITH YOU' project supporting victims of stalking and dating violence, and the 'Our Neighborhood Violence Watchers' project, which provides training on reporting and advocating against violence to local small business owners and community leaders (i.e., i-tongjang). Starting next year, the 'Our Neighborhood Violence Watchers' project will be expanded nationwide.

The city has also formed a Women-Friendly Citizen Participation Group, continuing activities such as women-friendly urban regeneration projects, surveys on women with career breaks, and the women's policy discussion forum "Now, Here, Equality for All."

Additionally, to support women's participation in economic activities, the city provides a monthly employment incentive of 400,000 KRW to companies that hire women with career breaks, and has promoted employment support for golf caddies and public official training projects to create jobs for women.

Meanwhile, the proportion of women in managerial positions in Yongin City has increased from 13% to 29% over the past five years, and the percentage of women among appointed committee members for policy decision-making has also risen from 31% to 42% during this period.

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin City stated, "Together with various institutions and citizens, we will create a society where all citizens can live without anxiety in their daily lives and are guaranteed equal opportunities regardless of gender."