TW: sexual assault. South Korean politicians seek to criminalise ‘semen terrorism’

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

S. Korean lawmaker Baek Hye-ryun today re-iterated the need for "semen terrorism" - the act of secretly delivering or smearing semen onto someone else - to be charged as a "sex crime", and not a crime of "property damage".

My article in the Guardian here:https://t.co/q756Y7ADcK https://t.co/x7XdQIZRCw pic.twitter.com/pGzjW0WE0z

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) August 18, 2021

Politicians in South Korea are seeking to make amendments to existing laws in order to make “semen terrorism” a punishable sex crime.

The move comes after a string of controversial court verdicts that have punished men who secretly ejaculated onto women’s belongings for “property damage”, and not for sexually criminal behaviour.

Lenient court rulings and societal attitudes towards sex crimes in South Korea have come under increased criticism over the past few years and in light of the global #MeToo movement.

The act of secretly delivering or smearing semen onto someone else, also known locally as “semen terrorism”, has now become a case in point, with local activists highlighting the lack of an adequate legal framework to punish what they consider to be clearly a sex crime.

In 2019, a man who soaked a woman’s shoes with semen was given a 500,000 won fine ($435). Police said at the time the investigation was carried out on charges of “property damage” because there were no legal provisions to apply sex crime charges.

That same year, a man was sentenced to three years in prison for “attempted injury” among other charges after spiking a woman’s coffees with laxatives and aphrodisiacs as revenge for rejecting his love advances. Despite also adding his semen and phlegm to the mix and to other items 54 times, the crime was not recognised as a sex crime because no forced sexual assault was established.

And in May 2021, a male civil servant was sentenced to a fine of 3m won on charges of “property damage” for ejaculating inside his female colleague’s coffee tumbler six times over the course of half a year. The court judged that his actions “ruined” the utility of the container. Local media continue to report on many more instances of “semen terrorism”.

According to South Korean law, a perpetrator must exercise violence or intimidation in order for the offence to be recognised as a sex crime, such as molestation or rape. Also punishable are digital or online sex crimes.

“The victim [in the coffee tumbler case] was sexually humiliated, but it was not considered a sex crime because it was not seen as involving direct physical contact,” Baek Hye-ryun, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic party who is trying to change the law, told the Guardian. “By charging the perpetrator with ‘damage of property’, his act was judged to have infringed on the utility of the tumbler.”

Baek submitted an amendment bill to the national assembly last month that seeks to expand the scope of punishable sex crimes to include non-physical contact through the delivery of objects or substances that cause sexual shame. “Sex crimes need to be interpreted from the victim’s point of view,” she said.

A similar bill was submitted by Baek’s fellow party parliamentarian Lee Su-jin in December last year which also proposes to expand the definition of “indecent acts” by amending the country’s criminal code. Both bills have yet to be discussed at the national assembly.

There have been several instances where judges have acknowledged “semen terrorism” to be acts of molestation in the absence of physical contact, but around 53% of recent related court cases have handed perpetrators suspended sentences, according to an analysis by Women’s News.

Out of 44 recent police cases, 26 were charged with molestation, and 17 with property damage, suggesting differing interpretations of existing laws that the proposed amendment would clear up.

“Every sex crime is a crime,” said Choi Won-jin, secretary general of the civic group Korean Womenlink, who believes such acts are also hate crimes against women. “This isn’t a random act of violence in the street, it’s targeting a specific gender.”

South Korea has seen some progress in recent years when it comes to improving the legal system. Possession of illegal sexual videos is now punishable by up to three years in prison, and stalkers will soon face heavier punishments.

Choi said: “Just like other incidents that brought about legal revisions, it’s a matter of expanding our understanding of the pain that can be caused to a person and making the necessary changes.”

Source: Raphael Rashid for The Guardian, Raphael Rashid/koryodynasty on Twitter

Please find international resources for help with sexual assault and abuse here: international crisis hotlines (ibiblio), information and support (hotpeachpages)

Comments

[shukriyya.livejournal.com]

wtf is wrong with men

I hope these bills will be made into law.

[rennehollic.livejournal.com]

the act of secretly delivering or smearing semen onto someone else

excuse me what? did I read this correctly?? How is this not a crime?
"Oh a man threw semen on top of you? oh well, boys will be boys!" fuck that! what is wrong with men? I can't! If this is allowed, every woman should be able to kick them in the nuts and break their teeth and not be charged

[frequency.livejournal.com]

i legitimately didn't know ppl even did this and now i wish i still didn't know 😥 i hope the bills get passed; there definitely need to be more serious charges for this.

[ginger-star.livejournal.com]

What the ACTUAL FUCK?

Why are men?

[hoursnow.livejournal.com]

god that's disgusting

[klauses.livejournal.com]

males are disgusting

[myungung.livejournal.com]

this is the first time I'm hearing of it, and wtf why would this be a trend??? I get that some sick people get gratification from it but it just blows my mind that this is a thing now

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

WTF 🤬 is wrong with men

[vanilla-09.livejournal.com]

Aint NO WAY IN HELL THIS IS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING DEAR LORD DELIVER US/KOREAN WOMEN FROM MEN.

[daynr.livejournal.com]

🤢

I hope they write into the laws.

I wish I still didn't know this was a thing.

[mortkero.livejournal.com]

Seriously WTF are wrong with men, they did all get fired from their jobs though right? T_T

Is SK just extra fucked up or is this a thing in other countries too?

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

men are unfortunately disgusting everywhere and are underpersecuted for their sex crimes everywhere

[mortkero.livejournal.com]

Yeah men are trash all over the world, but things like semen terrorism and molka don't really make any headlines here in the UK (we have other awful examples instead).

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

yeah i see what you mean! i think that where i live, semen terrorism would be grouped under sexual assault and stalking

(although maybe i'm being too optimistic since i recently learned that in my (european) country it's not illegal to take an upskirt picture of women as long as the photo isn't spread to others........)

[mortkero.livejournal.com]

How can it not be illegal, ugh.

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

it's interesting that everyone (rightfully so!) reacts with disgust towards the perpetrators. they are absolutely vile. what i thought was also shocking about this article was that with regards to this crime, objects are 'protected' by law rather than the victims/women....

i really applaud the parliamentarians working on this issue

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

I feel sick.

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

I hope these bills become law. Terrible what these victims had to experience.