Women’s rights groups and university human rights clubs gathered in Seoul’s Gangnam Station area on August 29 to denounce the recent surge in ‘deepfake’ sex crimes and demand prompt action from authorities. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – Women’s rights groups and university human rights clubs gathered in Seoul’s Gangnam Station area on August 29 to denounce the recent surge in ‘deepfake’ sex crimes and demand prompt action from authorities.
The Seoul Women’s Association and other organizations held a press conference near Exit 10 of Gangnam Station, urging the government and political circles to “step up immediately so that no one dares to ‘sexually exploit’ us.”
The term “sexual exploitation” was chosen in reference to the so-called “acquaintance exploitation rooms” where perpetrators targeted women they knew.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “You cannot sexually exploit us” and “What we feel is not shame, but anger.”
Kang Na-yeon, a committee member of the Seoul Women’s Association’s feminist college student alliance, shared that “One member received several messages from friends saying they ‘couldn’t sleep due to anxiety’ in just one night after the deepfake sex crime news broke.”
She emphasized that women’s sleeplessness was due not only to anxiety and fear but also anger and disillusionment with society.
“However, it’s not us who should be trembling with anxiety and hiding. It’s the perpetrators who should be shaking with fear that their wrongdoings will be exposed,” Kang stated. “We will fight to move freely in digital spaces, schools, military, restrooms, and public places.”
The groups criticized the government and National Assembly for their lack of proactive measures in addressing digital sex crimes, leading to the current situation.
Park Ji-a, vice president of the Seoul Women’s Association, pointed out, “How many incidents have there been from ‘Soranet’ to the ‘Nth Room’ case?”
She accused the government and political circles of being complicit in these crimes by treating cyber sexual violence as individual issues and only offering lukewarm solutions when public outrage erupts.
Women’s rights groups and university human rights clubs gathered in Seoul’s Gangnam Station area on August 29 to denounce the recent surge in ‘deepfake’ sex crimes and demand prompt action from authorities. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The organizations also criticized the police’s victim prevention guidelines, such as making social media accounts private, as a revival of outdated thinking that tells women to be careful rather than punishing perpetrators.
They demanded that investigative agencies and the government “engage in thorough fact-finding, punishment of perpetrators, and fundamental measures to prevent recurrence.”
Participants announced the formation of the “Deepfake Sex Crime OUT Joint Action” and plan to hold weekly “speak-outs” every Friday evening at Gangnam Station, starting August 30, where women can share their experiences.
Gangnam Station holds significance as the site of a 2016 incident where a woman was murdered by a stranger, leading to numerous protests against crimes targeting women.
The organizers explained, “Gangnam Station is a place that starkly shows how unsafe women are in our society, and where people who didn’t succumb to violence against women gathered to shout and change the world.”
Earlier that day, university student groups held an emergency press conference in front of Sejong Center, criticizing the lenient punishment for deepfake crimes due to the lack of physical contact.
They emphasized that “sex crimes are not individual problems but forms of sexual exploitation occurring within social structures” and called for “swift punishment and rapid response to create a society where women can comfortably attend school and work.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
