Hate Speech and Harassment
Sexual harassment and harassment are similar to hate speech. Sexual
harassment refers to “making people feel sexually humiliated or loathsome in
business, employment or other settings or giving disadvantage in employment
on the pretext of disobedience to sexual comments or other demands by a
working person, an employer or an employee of a public agency” (Article 2, No.
3, (d) of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea Act). Verbal sexual
harassment can also be categorized as hate speech due to its focus on gender.
Whereas hate speech is not defined based on certain relationships, sexual
harassment requires relationships such as employment or work. In other words,
verbal sexual harassment is a type of sexual hate speech in a relationship related
to work or employment.
“Harassment” is also defined as a type of hate in the proposal of the
Antidiscrimination Act put forward by the National Human Rights Commission
of Korea in 2006. It refers to any activity that causes physical pain or mental
pain including shame, insults, or fear for an individual or group due to gender,
disabilities, race, country of origin, ethnicity of origin, skin color, or sexual
orientation. As harassment can also be enacted verbally, it may coincide with
hate speech. In other words, verbal harassment may be a type of hate speech in
relationships related to work or employment.
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