Counseling Cases for Domestic and Dating Violence Reach 290,000... Stalking Surges by 61%

Average of 804 Counseling Cases Supported Daily
Sharp Increase in Counseling for Stalking and Dating Violence
Male Victims Account for 6.3%... Steady Annual Growth

Last year, the number of counseling cases for victims of violence handled by the Women's Emergency Hotline 1366 reached 293,407. According to the "Women's Emergency Hotline 1366 Operational Performance" report released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute on April 28, a total of 293,407 counseling cases related to violence were processed through 1366 last year, averaging 804 cases per day. This represents a decrease of 921 cases compared to 2023, when there were 294,328 cases.

However, more than half of the counseling cases still focused on domestic violence. Counseling related to domestic violence accounted for 148,884 cases, representing 50.7% of the total.

Although this figure decreased by about 12,000 cases compared to the previous year, it remains the highest proportion. The next most common types of counseling were stalking (5.0%), sexual violence (4.8%), dating violence (3.9%), digital sex crimes (1.7%), and prostitution (0.9%), in that order.

Of particular note were the increases in "stalking" and "dating violence" cases. Counseling for stalking victims reached 14,553 cases, a 61.4% increase from the previous year's 9,017 cases, marking the largest rise among all categories. Counseling for dating violence amounted to 11,338 cases, a 23.4% increase from the previous year's 9,187 cases.

This increase in counseling cases is interpreted as resulting from the establishment of legal measures such as the Stalking Punishment Act, as well as a shift in social awareness regarding new forms of violence such as stalking and dating violence.

The increase in counseling for male victims was also notable. Last year, men accounted for 6.3% of all counseling cases, continuing a steady rise from 5.2% in 2022 and 5.9% in 2023. Among male victims, domestic violence was the most common topic at 66.2%, followed by digital sex crimes (13.1%) and stalking (12.6%).

There were also cases where victims entered emergency shelters in response to crisis situations. A total of 4,486 individuals used such shelters last year, with an average protection period of 2.7 days per person. Of those admitted, 87.3% were victims of domestic violence, followed by dating violence (4.7%) and sexual violence (2.2%).

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated, "With the opening of the '1366 Center' in Sejong City in December last year, an initial counseling and rescue system for victims of violence has been established across all 17 metropolitan governments nationwide," adding, "We will continue to strengthen our service capabilities so that anyone, regardless of gender or age, can quickly receive help through 1366."