This illustrated image, provided by Yonhap News TV, depicts sexual violence against women.
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — More than two cases of sex crimes are committed against disabled people per day on average in South Korea, a police report showed Thursday.
According to the National Police Agency report submitted to independent lawmaker Lee Yong-ho, a total of 2,432 cases of sex offenses targeted disabled people from 2017-19, which roughly translates into a daily average of 2.2 cases a day.
The yearly tally stood at 785 in 2017, 843 in 2018 and 804 in 2019.
Of the total, a supermajority of 2,242 cases, or 92.1 percent, was found to have involved female disabled victims. Disabled men were victims in only 160 cases, or 6.6 percent. The gender for victims in the remaining 30 cases, or 1.3 percent, was not disclosed.
The report also showed that sex offenders targeted young people in over half of the cases.
Victims were in their 20s in 738 cases, or 30.3 percent, and underage in 582, or 23.9 percent.
The number of victims in their 30s, 40s and 50s was tallied at 422 (17.3 percent), 303 (12.5 percent) and 248 (10.2 percent), respectively.
By type of offenses, indecent acts by compulsion accounted for the largest share at 923 cases (38 percent), followed by sexual assault at 576 (25.7 percent) and sex by deception at 350 (14.4 percent).
Crimes happened the most frequently at residences, but victims were also exposed to sexual predators at everyday places, like streets and subway stations, according to the report.
“It has been 10 years since the film ‘Silenced’ shocked the country, but more than two sex crime cases are happening every day,” Lee said.
Released in 2011, “Silenced” is a local film based on a true story of a special needs school in the southwestern city of Gwangju, where disabled students were sexually assaulted by teachers and school officials from 2000-04.
“We need better measures, like mandatory identity disclosure, to discredit and bring shame to criminals who sexually exploit disabled people,” Lee added.
(Yonhap)
