The rapidly spreading "Me Too" movement in South Korea has reached schools with students and graduates coming forward via online media to reveal past sexual misdeeds committed by teachers.
The Korean version of the Me Too movement started in January when a female prosecutor claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by her senior several years ago.
Since then, women particularly in the entertainment and cultural fields have spoken out about sexual abuses by males in senior positions.
(@SchoolMeToo)
A "#School-Me Too" account has recently opened on Facebook, through which students and their parents at elementary, middle and high schools can openly disclose sexual abuses they suffered during their school days.
A woman claimed her high school teacher molested and stalked her in 2000. She said the teacher phoned her late one night, saying he would not hang up the phone until she told him, "Sweetheart, I love you."
When she refused to do so, the teacher said, "You're rude. No other students act like you," the women recalled.
Another women stated on Facebook that her fifth grade teacher persistently harassed his students in 1988 but retired later after serving as school commissioner and superintendent without undergoing disciplinary measures.
"I've come to join the Me Too movement after I realized following the movement that the scars in my mind have not been treated even though 30 years have passed," she said.
Youngsters and collegians are also joining the movement by exposing their experiences anonymously via the Internet.
A student, who claimed that she was sexually assaulted by her English tutor in her childhood, said, "Whenever I think of that time, I can't stop the tears and feel so mixed-up about it."
A posting at the online bulletin board at Shinhan University in Euijeongbu, north of Seoul, claimed that a professor has habitually harassed his students and made sexist remarks. The school is said to have launched a probe into the allegation. (Yonhap)
