Justice and Gender Equality Ministries Form Legislative Committee to Support Female Violence Victims

The government has decided to actively pursue legislative support activities in collaboration with relevant civic organizations to eradicate violence against women.

On June 12, the Ministry of Justice established a legislative committee with the Ministry of Gender Equality and organizations supporting female violence victims, holding its first meeting to discuss specific operational methods.

Attendees included officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality, as well as Kim Hye-jeong, head of the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center; Song Ran-hee, executive director of the Korean Women's Hotline; Lee Ha-young, co-representative of the National Coalition for the Resolution of Prostitution Issues; Jeon Da-un, chair of the Women's Rights Committee of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society; and Kim Yeo-jin, director of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center.

Participants exchanged broad opinions on priority legislative tasks related to intimate partner violence, proposed changes to terminology in the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, and the review of overseas legislative examples, among other discussion topics and the committee's schedule and methods.

The formation of the committee and the first meeting followed a meeting with organizations supporting female violence victims on May 11, where officials gathered on-site opinions and assessed the current legislative situation, agreeing to consult with relevant agencies including the Ministry of Gender Equality.

During that meeting, participants discussed the challenges and necessary improvements in the investigation and prosecution processes for sexual violence victims, proposed amendments to criminal law related to sexual violence, legislative directions reflecting the ongoing issues of intimate partner violence, difficulties faced by disabled sexual violence victims during investigations and prosecutions, improvements to the operation of public defenders for victims of sexual crimes, and legislative directions for amending laws to block demand for prostitution.

Kim Hye-jeong expressed concerns during the meeting, stating, "If supplementary investigations by the prosecution become difficult, significant delays in the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence cases are expected, which would further exacerbate the suffering of victims," urging the Ministry of Justice to devise countermeasures.

The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender Equality, and organizations supporting female violence victims plan to continue their communication and collaboration, holding follow-up meetings for in-depth discussions on related legislative tasks.