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SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Individuals being treated for pedophilia account for an extremely small portion of perpetrators of child sexual abuse, pointing out the need for wider coverage of mental health treatment, data showed Tuesday.
Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party referred to a Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service report which showed that around 300 to 400 people were treated for sexual preference disorders like pedophilia, voyeurism and exhibitionism every year from 2017 to 2021.
Among them, an average of 19.5 people were treated for pedophilia each year.
During these four years, an average of 2,943 people were arrested each year for committing sexual crimes against children.
The statistics indicate that only 0.65 percent of perpetrators of sexual abuse against children have received medical treatment.
Considering that there are potential criminals or unregistered perpetrators, it is safe to say that there is almost no medical treatment being provided.
“The lack of social understanding that sexual preference disorders can be treated is preventing patients from visiting hospitals voluntarily. We expect there is a larger number of people suffering from this disease than we know of,” Rep. Shin said.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
