The South Korean government announced Friday additional measures to combat domestic violence and child abuse, in response to recent high-profile cases that caused public outrage.
“People are growing increasingly anxious due to the series of child abuses and sexual violence in remote regions,” said Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn at a national policy coordination meeting.
“We will strengthen our sexual violence prevention programs in remote regions nationwide, as well as our investigative efforts.”
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (right) speaks during the national policy coordination meeting at the Seoul Government Complex on Friday. (Yonhap)
Sexual violence and domestic abuse are among “four societal evils” defined by the current Park Geun-hye administration, along with school violence and low-quality or adulterated food products.
In June, a gang-rape case of a female teacher in a remote island village in Shinan, South Jeolla Province, sparked public criticism toward the lack of safety measures and flagrant disregard for the rights of women in remote regions.
Earlier in March, it was revealed that a 7-year-old boy named Won-young died after being severely abused and neglected by his father and stepmother.
Among the announced measures are antiviolence education programs for residents of remote areas. Teachers will visit remote towns and villages to talk about gender equality and the importance of preventing and combating sexual violence.
The government is also coming up with new ankle bracelets -- a homing device that ex-convicts of sexual violence are often required to wear in South Korea -- that will analyze each individual’s body temperature and pulse, on top of the location of offenders. This is to help the authorities better monitor offenders and prevent possible future crimes.
To tackle child abuse, the government plans to encourage Koreans to attend classes on parenting. As of this year, about 80 percent of all child abusers were the victims’ parents.
In August, authorities will investigate and visit homes of all school children -- including those who attend high school -- who have not been in school for a long period of time or have taken a semester off. In the case of Won-young’s death, it was his school teacher who was worried about his absence in school and made a police report, bringing the issue into the public spotlight.
Government data, such as National Health Insurance records, will be used to track down children’s whereabouts.
The prime minister also released plans to combat violence in schools and protect young victims, including psychiatric support for students and the installation of surveillance cameras at all elementary, middle and high schools nationwide.
By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)