defined in the Act on the Prevention of Commercial Sex Acts and Protection etc.
of Victims. According to Women’s Rights Support Division of the Ministry of
Gender Equality and Family, foreign women are eligible for provision of meals
and accommodation, medical and legal assistance, vocational training and
employment assistance, interpretation as well as support in going back to their
home country under the Act on the Prevention of Commercial Sex Acts and
Protection, etc. of Victims. However, according to the Research on the Current
Status of Support for Foreign Crime Victims and Improvement Measures (2017)
conducted by the Korean Institute of Criminology, protection and assistance for
human trafficking victims are not properly provided in the criminal procedure.
There are many cases where human trafficking victims who were enticed for the
purpose of sex traffic (many Thai women victimized by forced prostitution after
coming to Korea enticed by an advertisement hiring massage therapists from
Thailand) are found through crackdown activities but recognized as offenders of
sex traffic because of the lack of assistance in giving a statement such as
interpretation and the police’s failure to identify human trafficking victims. In
addition, there are cases where foreign witnesses were not provided with travel
expenses in the criminal procedure due to the lack of consideration for
characteristics of foreigners. Also, there was a case where the Support Center for
Crime Victims rejected to cover the cost of returning home for a human
trafficking victim citing the absence of precedents.28
80. Although it is very important for an investigation agency which first contacts
with the victims to identify them since it is a starting point to prevent additional
damage from human trafficking and provide help to victims, there are limits on
identification of human trafficking victims at an early stage on the site without
specific criteria of judgment. Thus, in 2016, the NHRCK recommended the
Government to develop and utilize the Human Trafficking Victim Identification
and Protection Index that is specific criteria to identify human trafficking victims
on the site and protect them.
28 Choi Young-shin, Jang Da-hye (2017), the Research on the Current Status of Support for Foreign Crime Victims and
Improvement Measures, Korean Institute of Criminology, pp87-88