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Female soldiers seem reluctant to report sexual abuse crimes

Female soldiers seem reluctant to report sexual abuse crimes

Posted December. 19, 2014 05:32,   

한국어

The Ministry of National Defense received only three reports of sex crimes against female troops in a recent campaign for the entire female troops.

Following an Army two-star general’s sexual molestation of a female non-commissioned officer, the military declared sex crimes on base “enemy-benefiting acts” in early October and vowed to eradicate the crimes. However, it seems that most victims were reluctant to report sex crimes for fear of personnel-affairs disadvantages and secondary damage. There are mounting concerns that despite increasing roles played by female troops, whose number will reach 10,000 next year, the military’s war against on-base sex crimes is only superficial.

According to a report recently submitted by the defense ministry to Son In-chun, a lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party and member of the National Assembly’s national defense commission, the ministry received only three reports of military sex crimes during a special campaign targeting the entire female troops, who were numbered at 9,223 as of the end of June 2014. The victims were a female lieutenant and a staff sergeant, while the perpetrators were a sergeant major and civilian military employee. The victims claimed that the assailants sexually harassed or molested them and that in some cases, they were forced to give massages or pay drinks.

The ministry plans to launch investigations into the cases and give severe punishment to the assailants if their wrongdoings are confirmed. The ministry also plans to take sex crimes reports from the entire female troops every year. However, many experts question the effectiveness of such an approach.

“Most female soldiers think that even if they report sex crimes, proper follow-up measures including identity protection are unlikely to be taken,” a military official said.