People walk across an intersection in Seoul on March 24, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The vast majority of South Koreans have seen expressions of hatred against women online, the state human rights watchdog said Thursday.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea conducted a survey of 1,200 people over 15 years of age, 80.4 percent of whom said that the expressions of hatred they had seen online targeted women.
Others targeted ‘specific regions’ (76.9 percent), ‘feminists’ (76.8 percent), ‘seniors’ (72.5 percent), ‘men’ (72 percent), ‘sexual minorities’ (71.5 percent), and ‘persons with disabilities’ (67 percent).
Expressions of hatred offline mostly targeted seniors (69.2 percent), respondents said.
As for the reasons, respondents pointed out ‘structural discrimination’ (86.1 percent), ‘venting stress caused by unemployment and economic difficulties on the socially vulnerable’ (82.4 percent), and ‘distorted culture of media reporting’ (79.2 percent).
A response that ‘certain expressions of hatred no longer feel like a problem because they’ve been used by politicians and other popular figures’ reached 76.3 percent, spiking since a similar survey from 2019 (49.4 percent).
Respondents felt that expressions of hatred were more rampant online (79.3 percent) than offline (67.2 percent).
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
