Thousands of Koreans protest porn videos made with hidden cameras
Protesters say that whoever posts pornography recorded in a hidden way receives very minor punishments
Tens of thousands of women gathered this Saturday in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to protest against the use of hidden cameras. The equipment is placed in public spaces to record women without consent. Then the videos are released as pornographic content.
This was one of the biggest female protests in the history of South Korea.
While the distribution of pornography is banned in Korea, videos made by hidden cameras are easily found on the internet.
Protest organizers said the Koreans live in fear of being taped secretly without their consent.
In protest this Saturday, most were teenagers or in their early twenties – the victims who most appear in the videos. They carried posters and banners with messages like “My life is not a porn”.
“Those men filming these videos, those who send them, those who watch them, everyone must be severely punished!” They sang in the demonstration.
The protest organization urged women to cover their faces with masks, glasses or hats.
Protesters said about 55,000 women participated in the act, although police estimate the number at around 20,000.
The recent protests began after Korean police arrested a 25-year-old woman in May after she secretly photographed a man who had posed naked for college art students. She shared the photo on the internet and ended up in detention.
Protesters say the police only acted so quickly because the photograph was taken by a woman. The movement pointed out that hundreds of cases involving female victims were filed by police. The organization says it is difficult to find the cameramen or promoters of the videos because the images are usually posted on the internet through foreign servers.
Korean law provides for a five-year penalty or a fine of $ 34,700 for anyone filing pornography. Already the disclosure of the material can yield a punishment of R $ 104 thousand. Protesters, however, say that in many cases those who produce or share pornography taped with hidden equipment receive lighter punishments than the law determines.
South Korea has been struggling to curb the rise of recordings with secret cameras in recent years. In 2010, 1,100 cases were registered. As early as 2017, there were 6,500 crimes counted by the police.
Since 2004, the country has determined that mobile phones and smartphones should make a loud noise when recording a video or photo. The idea is that, in case of hidden recordings, the victim can recognize the sound.
However, the strategy has not worked very well: apps can mute the phone. Another problem is that the videos are also recorded with very small cameras, sometimes hidden in backpacks, walls, shoes and bathrooms.
South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, recently said that this crime has become “part of daily life in the country.”
Last week, he told a cabinet meeting that offenders should “suffer greater harm than the harm they inflict on [the victims].” Moon Jae-in has asked the authorities to seek stronger punishments, such as notifying a company when one of its employees is promoting such material.
