UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 45) The Government has continued its research and review on a general act on anti- discrimination, encompassing grounds for discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. While studying relevant domestic legislations, international human rights norms, and legislations of other countries, the Government has sought to address social and economic issues that can be entailed in the enactment of a general anti- discrimination act and to strike a balance between the right to equality and the principle of private autonomy. In 2010, the Government organized a special sub-committee consisting of government officials from relevant ministries, academics, legal experts and interest groups for in-depth discussions in this regard. In 2011, two draft bills for anti- discrimination proposed by lawmakers were submitted to the National Assembly, but they expired with the conclusion of the 18th National Assembly session in May 2012.

UN Compilation:
Para 8) CEDAW regretted the slow progress in the adoption of the Anti- Discrimination Bill which had been on hold since May 200834 with CESCR and CRC regretting that the legislative definition of discrimination does not contain an express prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and nationality. The Government in its replies to CERD in 2008 indicated that it was redoubling its efforts to introduce the Anti- Discrimination Act. CEDAW called for urgent steps to be taken towards the adoption of a comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act, in line with the Convention and article 2 (4) of the NHRC Act.

National Report:
Para 49) The victim of rape is defined as a "woman" in the Criminal Act without further specification, which means that anyone who rapes his wife can be prosecuted under the Criminal Act. In effect, the Busan District Court in January 2009 and the Seoul High Court in September 2011 recognized in their rulings aggravated rape charges against husbands, and the rulings have been upheld.

Para 50) Domestic violence is prosecuted in accordance with the Criminal Act and the Special Act on Punishment of Crimes of Domestic Violence and Others, the latter of which stipulates imposing protective disposition on perpetrators of domestic violence for the purpose of change of environment and correction of behavior. The amendments of the Special Act in October 2011 grant emergency intervention authority to judicial public officers in order to ensure speedy protection of victims and allow victims to directly request protection to the court. Starting January 2012, sexual crimes, including rape, against family members are accommodated in the scope of domestic violence, making their victims eligible for the protective services provided to victims of domestic violence, which include counseling sessions, housing at shelters, assistance for medical care, and education for independence and rehabilitation. The amended Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims and Others effective from May 2012 gives police officers, when dispatched to the scene of domestic violence, the authority to enter and investigate the crime scene to protect victims. It enables effective early response by police officers against domestic violence. In addition, the Government stepped up its efforts to raise awareness of the fact that domestic violence is a crime that is punishable by law, not a private matter.

Para 57) As a part of the Government's efforts to integrate the perspective of children in criminal procedures, the Office of Prosecution developed a Plan for Improvement of Investigation Practices into Crimes against Children. The plan aims to ensure reliability of statements made by child victims, prevent the "secondary victimization" of child victims in the criminal process, and reflect child victims' statements and perspectives as much as possible. Prosecutors dedicated to child crimes oversee the entire process from preliminary investigation to the execution of sentence and professional advice from child psychiatrists or clinical psychologists is sought. Starting from 2011, it has become mandatory to seek professional opinions on statements of victims in the case of sexual crimes against children aged less than 13. To the end, professionals trained by the Government have been staffed at nationwide comprehensive support centers for victims of sexual crimes.

Para 58) The Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse was amended in September 2011 as described in Paragraph 16 of this report, and six training sessions from March to June 2012 were offered to attorneys designated as legal aides for children. The sessions aim to enhance their understanding of children in general, children with disabilities, and sufferings caused by sexual abuse.

Para 59) As of June 2012, the Government is working on amending the Special Act on Punishment of Sexual Crimes and Others to provide victims of sexual crimes who are children or have disabilities with assistance from professional aides for making their statements in criminal proceedings. The professional aides refer to those who understand psychological and linguistic characteristics associated with children and the disabled. They participate in investigations or legal proceedings from an impartial standpoint to facilitate or assist communication and to ensure the full representation of the victims' statements without distortion.

National Report:
Para 16) The Government shifted the paradigm of policy on women to gender mainstreaming, aiming at achieving gender equality by more effective use of the policies that had been in place, including Gender Impact Analysis and Assessment, Gender Budget and Gender Statistics. The Committee on Gender Equality has been tasked with duties including coordination, cooperation, and execution of policies on gender equality by central government and local government. A new obligation on the ODA to make efforts to encourage equal participation of both genders and to develop measures to ensure gender equality in the programs was introduced.
Para 26) The Government introduced the Comprehensive Plan to Prevent Domestic Violence in 2011, expanded the scope of institutions obliged to receive mandatory education on the prevention of domestic violence, and exerted its effort to raise awareness of domestic violence and its elimination. Police stations at all levels have been deployed with police officers exclusively in charge of domestic violence. The Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Crimes of Domestic Violence was amended to strengthen the early response to domestic violence, granting the police with authority to enter the site of violence to investigate; allowing the victims or their legal representatives to request a protective order by the court; and imposing punishment on anyone who fails to comply with an urgent interim measures. The change of resident registration number has been allowed since May 2017, for the victims of sexual violence, domestic violence, or sex trade who either have been damaged or are at risk of damage from the leakage of resident registration number and this policy will further be complemented taking into account the needs of the victims of violence. Moreover, the Government will enact a comprehensive and general legislation for the prevention of gender-based violence.
Para 42) To ensure non-discrimination against women and achieve gender equality, the Government wholly revised the Framework Act on Women’s Development into the Framework Act on Gender Equality. The paradigm of the policies on women shifted from women’s development to the actual gender equality. All Government agencies are now responsible for taking up measures for gender mainstreaming in the course of performing their duties. The revised Act newly stipulates provisions concerning the Gender Impact Analysis and Assessment, Gender Budgeting, Gender Statistics, Education on Gender Sensitivity, and developing and announcing the Gender Equality Index. The national gender equality index is composed of eight categories and 23 indices, including economic activity, decision making, education and career training, welfare, health care, safety, family, and culture and information.
Para 44) In order to address the inequality of women in employment and labour market, the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act stipulates the principle of equal pay for equal work, the violation of which is subject to criminal punishment. Various policies have been put in place to enable work-family balance and prevent women’s career break, such as childcare leave, part-time job, flexible work arrangements, and the establishment of infrastructure for telecommuting and ubiquitous working. Childcare leave was expanded in 2014 to allow the parents with children under the age 8 or grade 2 to take the leave up to one year. In order to promote paternity leave, the Government introduced a Father’s Month program since 2014. If both parents take the childcare leave successively for the same child, the childcare benefit for the second parent is raised to 100% of their ordinary monthly wage up to KRW 1.5 million for the first month of childcare leave.

UN Compilation:
Para 53) The HR Committee was concerned about discrimination against women and about the small proportion of women in decision-making positions, the high rate of women in irregular employment and the high wage gap between men and women.
Para 54) The Working Group on business and human rights noted that women reportedly left the labour force at a high rate when they married or had children and found it difficult to reenter the workforce after a career break. ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations welcomed the measures taken by the Government to reconcile work and family responsibilities as a means of improving women’s participation in employment and requested the Government to continue its efforts.

Stakeholder Summary: Para 9) NHRCK reported on the under-representation of women in the labour market. Women often had to take up low paid non regular jobs. Balancing work and family life remained difficult largely due to the lack of decent public day care facilities and the low use of paternity leaves. The Government has made some efforts to increase employment rates of women and younger people, but those efforts had limited effect in the last three years.
Para 72) JS2 reported on discrimination against women and on the gender wage gap. Additionally, about 53 percent of women employees were in non-regular jobs.