South Korean women have reported instances of being shunned at work by male colleagues afraid of being caught up in the country’s growing #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. According to the Chosun Ilbo, female office workers have been subjected to the so-called “Pence rule”, which describes the US vice president’s reported principle of never dining alone with a woman or attending an event where alcohol is served without his wife. One 29 year-old professional at a Seoul-based company claimed she had missed out on an important networking opportunity when women were told they could not attend a drinks event with male colleagues and their boss.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, but I felt like I was being treated like I had,” she said.
The #MeToo campaign, which began against sexual abuse in Hollywood last year, has now taken South Korea by storm after a revelation in January by a public prosecutor about how her career had allegedly been sabotaged after being groped by a senior official.
Her courage in coming forward inspired an outpouring of similar stories from South Korean women who had also suffered harassment in the country’s patriarchal society in silence.
The movement, which has swept through the world of entertainment, politics and religion, this week prompted the resignation of rising political star, Ahn Hee-jung, over accusations of rape. Acclaimed director, Kim Ki-duk, who has been honoured at the Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals, has become the latest high profile figure to be accused of sexually predatory behaviour. He claims he has only had “consensual sexual relationships.” But according to the conservative Chosun Ilbo, some women are now feeling a backlash in the male-dominated business world, where they are being deliberately excluded from office gatherings and business trips. It cited online communities filled with comments from men saying they were now nervous around female co-workers.
( Read more... )source:
the telegraph