South Korea's Public Crisis: Digital Sex Crimes and Illicit Filming in Public Spaces
By: Ashley of KIS
SDGs: Gender equality, Reduced inequalities, Peace justice and strong institutions
What’s been done so far?
One factor that exacerbates the issue there are social barriers and stigmas that make current reporting difficult, unless completely anonymous. There are things like emergency bells in many public restrooms, but there’s a certain stigma and lack of anonymity, making it difficult to press, especially for something as comparably small as a suspected camera. And on top of the lack of legal protections, public ridicule makes it difficult for victims to actually step up, exacerbating the issue.
One woman, Chung Soo-young, has made “emergency kits” to fight against these tiny cameras after she herself found a tiny camera filming her in the bathroom stall. They consist of silicone sealant to fill the gaps and an ice pick to break tiny lenses. Interestingly, she’s also built an archive of illicitly recorded videos and pictures she found online to demonstrate the severity of the problem. Within a few months, during a search, she stumbled upon a video of herself being filmed in the bathroom—a testament to the gravity and pervasiveness of this issue.
However, her solution is also limited; like other reporting systems, these kits push the burden onto women and young girls to advocate for themselves, which difficult in a culture with deeply ingrained stigmas.
Where is this project headed?
Current steps that have been done so far are mass contacting the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure in South Korea. But because this process is so bureaucratic, it’s been difficult to meaningfully connect. Thus, on top of connecting through mass emails to various ministries and governors, I've begun sending physical advocacy letters to political leaders across Seongnam-si.
Moreover, I have been reaching out to major map application companies (e.g. Kakaomap, Navermap) to suggest an additional feature that allows people to report suspicious holes or potential locations of filming through photo evidence.
One factor that exacerbates the issue there are social barriers and stigmas that make current reporting difficult, unless completely anonymous. There are things like emergency bells in many public restrooms, but there’s a certain stigma and lack of anonymity, making it difficult to press, especially for something as comparably small as a suspected camera. And on top of the lack of legal protections, public ridicule makes it difficult for victims to actually step up, exacerbating the issue.
One woman, Chung Soo-young, has made “emergency kits” to fight against these tiny cameras after she herself found a tiny camera filming her in the bathroom stall. They consist of silicone sealant to fill the gaps and an ice pick to break tiny lenses. Interestingly, she’s also built an archive of illicitly recorded videos and pictures she found online to demonstrate the severity of the problem. Within a few months, during a search, she stumbled upon a video of herself being filmed in the bathroom—a testament to the gravity and pervasiveness of this issue.
However, her solution is also limited; like other reporting systems, these kits push the burden onto women and young girls to advocate for themselves, which difficult in a culture with deeply ingrained stigmas.
Where is this project headed?
Current steps that have been done so far are mass contacting the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure in South Korea. But because this process is so bureaucratic, it’s been difficult to meaningfully connect. Thus, on top of connecting through mass emails to various ministries and governors, I've begun sending physical advocacy letters to political leaders across Seongnam-si.
Moreover, I have been reaching out to major map application companies (e.g. Kakaomap, Navermap) to suggest an additional feature that allows people to report suspicious holes or potential locations of filming through photo evidence.