Question
37.
Due to the closed-nature of the military organization, many servicewomen are skeptical
about taking the problems to outside the military and finding solutions, including filing complaints or
gathering signatures. However, it is deemed necessary to take an open approach to cooperate with
external agencies and organizations in order to find an effective solution. Please provide the
Government’s detailed plans on sexual harassment and violence in the military against servicewomen.
Issue 7: Sexual harassment in elementary, middle and high schools
Current situation
38.
According to the fact-finding mission by the NHRCK presented during the forum on the
sexual harassment in schools and counter measures in 2015 (2015:33-50), the rate of sexual violence
cases that took place within elementary, middle and high schools was 47 per cent, and among those
cases, 25 per cent of the cases were the sexual harassment cases perpetrated by teachers against
students. More cases took place in middle and high schools than elementary schools. One of the main
characteristics of the complaint cases was the relatively low number of cases filed with the NHRCK;
in other words, student victims had trouble in fighting for the protection of their rights as they had to
file complaints against their teachers and continue to engage in the investigative processes. In addition,
most cases were filed by a third party, which showed the student victims’ needs for external support.
The types of harassment varied from verbal harassment to indecent act by force as stipulated in the
Criminal Code; moreover, it was also proved that the structural power relationship in schools was one
of the reasons behind the many sexual harassment cases as the perpetrators included teachers at the
managerial levels such as principals, vice-principals, and chiefs of teachers. It was also exposed that
many cases of sexual harassment took place in the processes and/or forms of student guidance or
disciplinary actions, and measures against the perpetrators were minimal.
39.
Sexual assault or harassment by teachers against students may exhibit different aspect than
that of other cases of sexual assault or harassment against child or adolescents. In the study by
et. al (2001), 18.3 per cent of all student respondents said that they had experiences sexual harassment,
and among those cases, 7.8 per cent of them were perpetrated by teaching staff. In the study by Yeon12