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Assaults often put down to 'quarrel between lovers'
By Bahk Eun-ji
Hwang Ye-jin, a 25-year-old woman, was violently assaulted at her residence in Seoul, July 25. The assailant was a 30-year-old man she had been romantically involved with. He allegedly attacked her because she had told others they were dating.
Hwang suffered severe facial swelling, internal bleeding, broken ribs and damage to her lungs. She died three weeks later as a result of medical complications.
Her mother made public the video footage of the assault, captured by a surveillance camera at the entrance of her daughter's home. In the footage, Hwang collapses on the floor after her attacker pummels her against a wall several times. Later, the video shows Hwang lying on the floor unconscious, and the attacker drags her bleeding into an elevator.
The mother disclosed the video footage, the daughter's photo and name and posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, calling for heavy punishment of the perpetrator, in hope of raising public awareness of dating violence and abuse against women as epitomized by the violent death of her daughter. The petition has gained more than 350,000 signatures as of Monday, reflecting high public awareness and concerns over such assaults.
Cases like Hwang's are not uncommon and many people, mostly women, experience dating violence and abuse at the hands of romantic partners.
Dating violence is where a partner in an intimate relationship abuses the other partner verbally, emotionally, economically, sexually or physically. As most victims are women, it is classified as a type of gender-based violence rooted in gender inequalities.
According to the National Police Agency, around 18,000 cases of dating violence have been reported annually in recent years ― 14,136 cases in 2017, 18,671 in 2018, 19,940 in 2019 and 18,945 in 2020. The figure in 2020 indicates 52 cases were reported every day on average.
According to Statistics Korea's 2020 report titled "The Reality of Dating Violence," among the dating violence cases reported in 2019, 7,003 cases or 71 percent involved assault, followed by confinement and intimidation at 10.8 percent, sexual violence at 0.9 percent and murder at 0.4 percent. The remaining offences were categorized as misdemeanors.
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| On the left is Hwang Ye-jin, 25-year-old woman who was beaten to death by a man she had been involved with, and on the right is a screenshot from CCTV footage showing Hwang's unconscious body being dragged by her assailant into an elevator on July 25. / Screen captured from SBS |
Despite the prevalence of dating violence and the fact that it can result in death, the laws regarding and systems to prevent dating violence are insufficient, and experts say it is mainly because of Korea's social definition of dating violence as simply "lovers' quarrels." Thus investigative authorities and judiciaries tend to avoid intervening in the "personal problems of lovers."
"Since it happened between couples, investigative authorities view it as a simple love issue, so they refrain from intervening, treat it as trivial and close the case on the spot," said Choi Seon-hye, director of the Korean Women's Hot Line.
"Reports of dating violence have increased as victims respond more sensitively and actively than before, but the investigative agencies' recognition of dating violence is not keeping up," Choi said.
In Hwang's case, her attacker called 119 and said things such as "I accidently banged her head on the elevator door while trying to move her," and that she "had too much to drink."
Although the prosecution sought an arrest warrant for him two days after the assault on charges of injury, a local court rejected it, saying he was unlikely to flee or destroy evidence.
Experts emphasize that it is necessary to raise awareness of dating violence as well as setting a clear legal basis to remove ambiguity in any definitions or standards of these kind of crimes that punishes perpetrators and protects victims.
"We are having difficulty responding effectively or supporting victims because there are no specific regulations to control dating violence," said Kim Do-yeon, general manager of the Korea Dating Violence Institute, a research body dedicated to gathering data on and promoting policies for the safety of women.
Choi said dating violence victims who call the hotline often say what they fear the most is the possibility of retaliation from their partners, who know their personal information, such as their home address, because there are virtually no legal measures to protect them.
"They have been in a relationship, so the perpetrator knows a lot about the victim," Choi said, adding this could lead to more serious crimes and privacy infringement than other assaults committed by strangers. "That's why dating violence should be dealt with more seriously by investigative agencies."
