Over Half of Child and Adolescent Sexual Violence Victims in Gwangju Are Under 13

Survey Marks 20th Anniversary of Sunflower Center
55% of 3,523 Victims Are Children Under 13

More than half of child and adolescent sexual violence victims in the Gwangju area are under the age of 13, according to a recent survey.

According to data released on June 26 by the Gwangju Sunflower Center to mark its 20th anniversary, victims under the age of 13 accounted for 55.2% (1,947 individuals) of all victims (3,523 individuals) over the past 20 years, highlighting the severity of sexual violence among younger age groups.

The Gwangju Sunflower Center, a specialized center for child and adolescent sexual violence in Gwangju, has been providing medical, legal, and psychological support to child, adolescent, and intellectually disabled victims of sexual violence since 2005. Over the past 20 years, the center has provided a total of 116,037 services to 3,523 victims, including medical support, counseling and legal assistance, psychological support, and accompaniment services.

The proportion of perpetrators under the age of 19 has remained relatively stable, averaging 39.9% over the past 15 years (2005?2019) and 38.9% in the most recent five years (2020?2024). However, the proportion of perpetrators under the age of 13 increased from 13.9% (2005?2019) to 17.8% (2020?2024). This rise is attributed to a lower age of access to media, early exposure to distorted sexual content, as well as a tendency among young people to uncritically accept and imitate provocative sexual content in real life, which has led to an increase in the proportion of younger perpetrators.

In addition, data from reported cases over the past seven years (2018?2024) show that 25.4% of victims were lured through media platforms. The types of media platforms involved were chat apps (61%), social networking services (SNS) (21%), others (13%), and game apps (5%). Notably, the number of victims targeted through chat platforms has shown a consistent increase over the past five years.

In response, the center is recognizing the seriousness of digital sexual violence and is making efforts to respond proactively. The center also plans to develop active support measures to ensure that no victims are left unprotected, given the diversification of crimes such as digital sexual offenses and secondary victimization resulting from changing times.

Jungshin, the center director, stated, "Above all, we will continue to strengthen our capabilities to support victims based on the past 20 years of experience, and we aim to expand our role as an advisory and cooperative institution for supporting sexual violence victims and establishing related policies in the local community." She added, "We will do our utmost to provide more professional and meticulous support in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Chonnam National University Hospital, and related organizations in the community."