Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Supports Youth Victims of Online Sexual Exploitation with Dedicated App

Operation of Online Counseling Service
Development of 'Seongchakchwi Victim Reporting App'

On the 17th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced that it will actively promote an online counseling support project to protect children and adolescents from sexual exploitation through online platforms and respond swiftly.

The online sexual exploitation counseling support project provides counseling, reporting, and illegal filming removal support services through a dedicated counseling channel such as a sexual exploitation damage reporting app and KakaoTalk for children and adolescents who have suffered sexual exploitation online, including 'grooming.' Previously, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family piloted a cyber counseling service last year to prevent youth from being drawn into prostitution through online conditional meetings, and from this year, it plans to expand the support targets to various types of sexual exploitation damage.

Government Seoul Government Complex, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

First, to provide rapid support in urgent situations of online grooming that lead to the production and distribution of sexual exploitation materials, prostitution, and sexual violence, the ministry will support children and adolescents to immediately receive counseling or necessary information if suspicious signs of sexual exploitation are detected during online activities such as chatting. To this end, the ministry plans to develop the 'Children and Adolescents Online Sexual Exploitation Damage Reporting App' in cooperation with the Korea Communications Commission and pilot it in the first half of this year to enable immediate help requests when counseling or reporting is needed.

Additionally, the ministry will monitor sexual exploitation inducements such as sexual conversations and conditional meetings targeting children and adolescents and work with related organizations to prevent the spread of damage. In cases where the production or distribution of illegal filming or other sexual exploitation materials occurs, the ministry will connect victims to the Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center to provide prompt removal support.

Moreover, the ministry will reorganize the 17 nationwide prostitution victim child and adolescent support centers into 'Sexual Exploitation Victim Child and Adolescent Support Centers.' Through this, victims of grooming, sexual violence, and other forms of harm, in addition to prostitution, will be able to receive integrated support services including emergency rescue, legal assistance, and academic support.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that most sexual crimes against children and adolescents occur online. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's '2022 Trends and Analysis of Child and Adolescent Sexual Crime Occurrences,' among sexual crime cases where children and adolescents were victims, 81.3% of prostitution, 66.5% of sexual exploitation material production, and 35.3% of rape cases occurred through online channels.