The National YWCA of Korea held a memorial prayer meeting on the evening of September 23rd at 8 p.m. This prayer meeting took place at Exit 10 of Sindang Station to mourn the victim of the Sindang Station gender violence (stalking) murder case.
The memorial prayer meeting was organized to mourn the deceased who fell victim to severe stalking. The event expressed anger towards the legal system and politics that failed to protect women leading to their deaths, while also urging the resolution of gender violence and seeking the everyday peace of women.
Co-hosted by 21 organizations, including the National YWCA of Korea, the memorial prayer meeting was arranged in hope to provide comfort to the victim’s family and serve as a voice calling for societal transformation. The event was broadcasted on the National YWCA of Korea’s YouTube channel, allowing many citizens who could not attend in person to join in mourning the victim and stand in solidarity for the resolution of gender violence in our society.
Below is the full statement from the National YWCA of Korea calling for effective measures to address the recurring stalking murder cases:
[Statement from the National YWCA of Korea]
Address the recurring stalking murder cases—seek effective measures!
On September 14th, at Sindang Station, murder case stemming from stalking occurred again. The perpetrator had been tormenting the victim persistently through illegal filming and stalking. The victim, who endured three years of stalking threats, reported the perpetrator to law enforcement agencies to protect herself. However, the judicial system failed to safeguard this woman, resulting in yet another case where a woman was murdered as an act of revenge.
We feel helpless in the face of recurring stalking crimes.
Despite around 5,000 reported stalking crimes annually, proper punishment is not being administered due to difficulties in proving charges and concerns about retaliatory crimes. The incomplete legal system and the judiciary’s passive stance have left stalking victims living in indescribable difficulties, including mistrust of others, fear for personal safety, suicidal tendencies, and social avoidance. Despite the serious harm stalking inflicts on victims such as physical violence, sexual assault, and even murder, law enforcement agencies and courts have maintained a passive attitude.
We are enraged at the continuous problems and limitations exposed by the victim protection system.
We are infuriated by the Ministry of Justice’s failure to recognize stalking as a crime and its procrastination in amending laws, as well as the National Assembly’s negligent attitude. The attempts to protect victims and prevent crimes are already proven ineffective in a severely inadequate control environment for perpetrators. Additionally, even victim protection faces operational difficulties due to the lack of necessary personnel. In situations where stalking perpetrators frequently violate restraining orders, the Sindang Station murder was already a foreseeable crime. This year alone, four women were murdered while under protection. How many more women must plead for help through their tragic deaths!
We are furious at the judicial system, the legislative participants, and politicians who negligently dealt with victims, allowing second victimization and retaliatory crimes to take place. We also express anger at the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, which allowed the murder to occur while failing to enforce the ban on stalking perpetrators approaching victims. Furthermore, we are angered by the Minister of Gender Equality and Family’s remarks, which blurred the essence of the case and distorted it into a gender conflict, as well as the media that damaged the honor of the deceased by turning the incident into a debate about ‘misogyny.’
We demand a society safe from ‘all forms of gender violence.’
As we mourn a courageous woman who confronted her assailant until her last moments in a restroom marked with the slogan ‘Seoul, where women are happy,’
the National YWCA of Korea makes the following demands:
First, the Ministry of Justice must abolish the ‘no punishment against will’ for stalking crimes and reform the surveillance system for perpetrators to strengthen victim protection.
Second, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family must immediately review and develop comprehensive measures to prevent gender violence, focusing on practical victim protection.
Third, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metro must conduct ‘proper’ sexual violence prevention education and strengthen worker safety measures, such as the two-person work shift.
September 22, 2022.
National YWCA of Korea
