A South Korean court has recognized misogyny as a hate crimeher spokesperson told AFP on Thursday, a decision that activists hailed as a breakthrough for women’s rights. The sentencing came in relation to a case in which a store employee was attacked by a man shouting “feminists deserve to be beaten” because he had short hair.
The Changwon District Court on Tuesday upheld the attacker’s three-year prison sentence, adding a clause to his sentence that explicitly stated that the crime was motivated by misogyny.
The attacker, in his 20s, committed the crime “based on hatred and unfounded prejudice against women, which constitutes a reprehensible motive for the crime,” a court spokesperson told AFP on Thursday. The verdict cannot be appealed, he added.
The victim lost hearing in her left ear after the attack and has become unemployed, according to activists who support her. The victim’s lawyer welcomed the decision, saying it paves the way to a safer country for women.
“So far, I have personally not seen cases in which the court has explicitly identified misogyny as a punishable motive for a crime,” Lee Gyeong-ha, the victim’s lawyer, told AFP.
«Many abusers say: ‘I don’t hate women; I just hate feminists.’ “This sentence is significant because it clarifies that saying things like ‘feminists deserve to be beaten’ also has its roots in misogyny.”
Porn ‘deepfakes’ crisis
Although South Korea is a major technological power and a major exporter of pop culture, it remains a socially conservative society with a poor record on women’s rights. Currently, the country is facing a serious crisis of fake pornwhose victims are, for the most part, young girls.
Before being elected, President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that South Korean women did not suffer from “systemic gender discrimination,” despite differences in pay and participation in the labor market. She won office in 2022 in part thanks to her election promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality.
During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, An San, a three-time Olympic champion, was harassed online and offline for wearing short hair, which was interpreted as her being a feminist. Some detractors even demanded that he return his medals and apologize. Activists in South Gyeongsang Province, where the crime occurred, described Tuesday’s sentencing as a “historic moment.”
“Misogynistic crimes that have not been adequately punished in court have reinforced gender stereotypes, hindering gender equality,” Lee Gyeong-ork of the Gyeongnam Women’s Association told AFP. But Tuesday’s ruling “has established a framework for legally punishing misogynistic criminals,” he added.
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