What is sexual harassment?
Sexual harassment refers to an act that not only violates an individual’s sexual autonomy through unwanted sexual words or actions in group settings such as workplaces, public organizations, schools, etc., but also causes gender discrimination in the right to work or education.
Sexual harassment is sexual words and actions that the other person does not want. The range of words and actions that apply to this is very wide and diverse, from obscene remarks that include sexual objectification, unwanted requests for dates or sex, to sexual violence crimes such as molestation or rape.
Such sexual words and actions in group life become sexual harassment when acceptance becomes a condition for advantage or disadvantage in employment, work, or study, or when it creates a hostile environment.
Sexual harassment is a problem that reflects the imbalance in power relations associated with gender differences. The reason for regulating sexual harassment is that it is not limited to individual acts but aggravates collective gender discrimination in group life and contributes to making working and learning conditions and environments unequal.
In many countries, including the EU, sexual harassment is broadly interpreted as gender harassment based on gender differences. In fact, harassment is closer to ‘harassment’ that causing annoyance, anxiety, and worry.
The relationship between ‘sexual violence’ and ‘sexual harassment’
Sexual violence and sexual harassment have something in common: they are acts of harming the other person through unwanted sexual words and actions. Sexual violence that occurs between members of an organization, such as a workplace or school, can be said to be an act that violates the prohibition of sexual harassment regulations because it not only infringes on an individual’s sexual autonomy, but also affects employment or educational conditions and environments.
If the act is a ‘sexual violence crime’ such as rape, forcible molestation, or attempted assault, the person will not only be disciplined by the relevant organization, but will also be subject to criminal punishment. However, under Korea’s laws, the scope of sexual harassment regulations is limited to employees, employers, and workers of businesses and public institutions, so sexual harassment regulations do not apply to sexual violence that occurs in relationships with outsiders.
On the other hand, unwanted sexual words or demands made to others in group settings may be considered sexual harassment even if they do not amount to sexual violence.
Sexual violence is mental, verbal, and physical violence that violates an individual’s right to sexual autonomy. All sexual words and actions that occur against the will of the other person can constitute sexual violence.
When we think of sexual violence, it is easy to think of physical violence such as ‘rape’ or ‘molestation’, which is often referred to as ‘sexual assault’.
Of course, these acts are crimes under criminal law, and Korea’s Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes and Victim Protection Act defines them as ‘sexual violence crimes’ and imposes heavy punishment. However, today, sexual violence is not limited to physical violence or crimes under criminal law, but is understood as a broader concept encompassing mental and verbal violence.
Even acts without direct physical contact can constitute sexual violence.
For example, repeating humiliating sexual jokes to women, sending obscene text or pictures via e-mail, and stalking by persistently making phone calls or following women are also considered sexual violence.
It does not necessarily require physical force such as assault or threats.
Sexual words and actions unilaterally imposed without the other person’s consent or without the other person being able to freely express their opinions can also be considered an act of violating the other person’s rights.
Sexual violence is an act that violates another person’s ‘right to sexual autonomy’.
Individuals living in modern society have the right to choose their own preferred direction of sexual life and to autonomously decide who, when, and how to form intimate relationships. This right, called ‘sexual autonomy’ or ‘right to sexual self-determination,’ is a basic right that is an extension of the right to personality and the right to pursue happiness guaranteed by the Constitution.
Causing pain to another person through unwanted sexual words or actions is violence that violates sexual autonomy.
It refers to various and complex violence (surveillance, control, verbal abuse, threats, assault, confinement, attempted murder, etc.) that occurs in dating relationships such as physical, emotional, economic, and sexual. A dating relationship includes a relationship where you are meeting or have met for the purpose of dating or romance, a relationship where you acknowledge the possibility through a stranger, blind date, or chat, and even a state where you are not dating but have a crush on the person.
– Dating violence often lasts for a long time rather than just a single incident.
– Victims may confuse love and violence due to the words and actions of perpetrators who say they love someone while committing violence.
– In the process of breaking off a relationship, you may suffer violence, threats, or stalking.
– The perpetrator knows too much information about the victim and uses this to control the victim.
– Victims complain of severe fear and anxiety, but due to the nature of violence within intimate relationships, it is trivialized as a ‘love fight’ and is not properly punished.
