[Sexual Exploitation, Out] "Dedicated Lawyers Needed to Protect the Rights of Children and Adolescents"

Interview with Kang Jeongeun, Attorney at Duroo, a Public Interest Law Organization
Public Defender System Exists, but Support Is Limited in Reality
Need to Lower Barriers to Judicial Access and Train Specialized Lawyers

Editor's NoteChild and youth prostitution is defined as sexual exploitation. This is because children and adolescents, whose sexual autonomy is not fully developed, cannot be regarded as capable of sexual consent or as parties to contracts. Children and adolescents, who quickly form intimate relationships online through social media, messengers, and anonymous platforms, are now more easily drawn into sexual exploitation crimes than in the past. According to the Central Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center of the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, one out of four people (27.8%) who received support for digital sex crime victimization last year were teenagers. Compared to 2023, the number of teenage victims who received support from the center increased by more than 600 (3.3 percentage points). Crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents are clear acts of sexual abuse. This article examines whether there are ways to prevent such crimes and what specific measures are needed, based on actual cases of victimization.

"Children and adolescents who become involved in crimes or violate the law require legal assistance from the very beginning, when giving statements to the police during the investigation. However, in reality, a state-appointed legal assistant (including public defenders) is often assigned only belatedly, when the child is about to be sent to a juvenile classification center (a facility for pre-disposition detention). Can such a system truly guarantee the rights of children and adolescents?"

Kang Jeongeun, an attorney at Duroo, a public interest law organization, who is in charge of the "On Village Law" project supporting children and adolescents, pointed out in an interview with Asia Economy on May 25 that South Korea lacks the legal assistance infrastructure necessary to guarantee the rights of children and adolescents. She said, "There needs to be a system in place that can provide support for legal issues specific to children and adolescents."

The On Village Law project was launched three years ago by Duroo, Samsung Life Insurance, and the Community Chest of Korea to advocate for the rights of children and adolescents who are not protected in the legal blind spots. The goal is to create an environment in which children and adolescents at risk of human rights violations, such as violence or social stigma, can receive timely legal protection. A total of 64 lawyers across the country have participated in providing legal support activities.

Kang Jeongeun and Duroo lawyer are being interviewed on the 15th at the Duroo office, a public interest law organization in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

According to the public defender system, victims of crimes such as sexual violence, child abuse, abuse of persons with disabilities, and human trafficking, as well as children and adolescents who are victims of sexual exploitation (prostitution), are eligible to be assigned a public defender. However, it is very rare for children and adolescents to voluntarily seek out a lawyer.

Kang explained, "Although teenagers do seek out lawyers for issues such as sexual exploitation or child abuse, the number who do so on their own is smaller than one might think." She added, "Many children and adolescents do not even recognize that they are in a situation where they need legal assistance, and children, in particular, lack independent legal capacity." She further noted, "We need to lower the barriers to judicial access for children and adolescents so that they can independently select the legal representatives they want and easily find them."

The role of lawyers is extremely important for children and adolescents who are victims of sexual exploitation. These victims often do not recognize themselves as victims, sometimes because perpetrators threaten them by saying things like, "Weren't you a willing participant?" In addition, because the victims are often very young, they may not even realize that sexual exploitation is a crime. Lawyers representing victims of sexual exploitation can not only handle legal proceedings to punish the perpetrators, but also provide emotional support to the victims.

In reality, the infrastructure to provide legal assistance to children and adolescents is severely lacking. As of July last year, there were about 37,000 lawyers registered with the Korean Bar Association, but only 45 were dedicated public defenders for victims, and about 600 were non-dedicated public defenders for victims. There are no specialized lawyers assigned to local government child protection teams, the National Center for the Rights of the Child, or child protection agencies. There are also only about 120 public interest lawyers affiliated with public interest organizations.

Kang emphasized the need for a system of lawyers specialized in children and adolescents. She believes that this would help build an ecosystem for children's and adolescents' human rights. Kang said, "Currently, public defenders for victims handle a wide range of crimes, including sexual exploitation and other sex crimes, child abuse, abuse of persons with disabilities, human trafficking, and stalking. Therefore, it is difficult to say they have expertise specifically in children and adolescents." She added, "It is urgent to foster a pool of lawyers specialized in children and adolescents."

She continued, "The right of self-determination for children and adolescents is a constitutional fundamental right. Every citizen has the right to dignity and value as a human being and to pursue happiness." She further stated, "However, because children and adolescents inevitably have less information and fewer resources than adults, our society must ask what efforts are being made to ensure that their right of self-determination is protected."

※ If you are experiencing difficulties due to digital sex crimes, domestic violence, sexual violence, prostitution or sexual exploitation, dating violence, or stalking, you can receive support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through the Women's Emergency Hotline 1366 (☎1366). For counseling related to child and youth sexual exploitation, anonymous one-on-one counseling is also available through the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute's youth counseling channel D4Youth (@d4youth).