Get serious on dating violence

Separate law on dating violence should be considered

There has been a worrying slew of violence against women recently. Last week, a 25-yearold medical student was arrested without a warrant for killing his girlfriend in southern Seoul in the late afternoon.

The fact that the assailant had previously earned a perfect score in the national college entrance exam shocked the nation. Yet what’s important is to focus on the fact that dating violence can lead to death, and such cases have been frequent.

In March, an assailant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, killed his girlfriend who wanted to break up and harmed the victim’s mother. Last July, a man in his 30s in Incheon attacked his former girlfriend despite a court’s restraining order based on stalking offenses.

The frequency of these crimes starkly shows that there is no specific law governing dating violence or violence between intimate partners in place in Korea. Dating violence or violence among intimate partners may be hard to identify as it is between people who were supposed to care for each other. Its manifestations range from attack, bodily injury, incarceration, threat or blackmail and sexual violence.

Awareness is rising as the number of tragic cases increases sadly. According to data from the National Police Agency, those arrested for dating violence in the nation increased from 8,951 in 2020 to 13,939 in 2023. At least 138 women were killed last year alone by men they knew intimately, data from the Korea Women’s Hotline revealed.

Despite the high general public safety and rising awareness of gender issues in Korea, where half of the population are women, immediate legal protections such as separation or restraining orders are not provisioned for dating violence. In the case of dating violence, assailants are mainly punished for assault and threats, although the victims can state they don’t want the assailant punished. As the victims and assailants in these cases know each other well, there is a tendency for the assailant to persuade the victim to waive punishment. Only the Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking and the Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims stipulate a restraining order or an immediate separation.

Without a separate law on dating violence or expanding existing laws to include victims of violence between intimate partners, the victims of dating violence stand in that grey zone where the danger remains within the vicinity of someone they know well.

Several bills to address that grey zone remain sitting unapproved in the National Assembly for several years without action.

The new 22nd National Assembly that opens on May 30 should promptly process dating violence legislation. Many nations have already taken to address varying degrees of gender-based crimes and punishment for the assailant.

The United States, for example, has the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was established in 1994 and then broadened to encompass protecting victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, dating violence and stalking.

Neighboring Japan in 2013 moved to include as victims boyfriends or girlfriends who share the same living space in addition to the spouses, de facto spouses or ex-spouses in its Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims.

These examples illustrate that Korea should provide a legal safety net for dating violence. The issue is not merely a private matter. Everyone has a right to be safe, which is a crucial element to happiness. In addition, a society can instill more awareness and training to prevent and deal with dating violence when it occurs.