The government is moving to introduce victim protection measures, including punishment for "dating violence" in romantic relationships and restraining orders against offenders. The provisional restraining order period for stalking, currently capped at nine months, will also be extended.
On the 13th, the government announced measures to strengthen the response to "stalking and dating violence." The task force (TF) formed by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and the Korean National Police Agency unveiled the plan after the "Namyangju stalking murder case" on Mar. 3.
Stalking and dating violence refers to physical, emotional, sexual, and economic violence that occurs repeatedly and continuously between closely related offenders and victims. Of the 669 murders last year, 140 cases (20.9%) were preceded by violence against women, including domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual violence.
First, the introduction of a "victim protection order" system that allows stalking victims to directly petition the court for a restraining order was adopted when the revised "Stalking Punishment Act" passed the National Assembly in Mar. As a result, if a victim requests a restraining order but the police do not apply or the prosecutor does not file, the victim can file for a protection order directly with the court. The system will take effect in Apr. next year.
The bill punishing dating violence would criminalize control and domination that typically occur in dating relationships and allow victim protection measures, such as provisional orders. The Ministry of Justice decided to pursue legislation in consultation with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and others. A bill to extend the stalking restraining order period is pending in The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
The system that notifies a victim of an offender's actual location and movements when an offender wearing a location-tracking electronic device approaches took effect on the 24th of last month.
A system to provide court-appointed lawyers to victims of specified serious crimes, such as murder and attempted murder, that occur in intimate or former romantic relationships also took effect on the same day.
The Ministry of Justice and the Korean National Police Agency will complete system integration by the end of the year so that when an offender wearing an electronic device for stalking approaches a victim, responding officers can check the real-time locations of the offender and the victim.
In addition, if a person under electronic monitoring for a sex crime is subjected to a restraining order in another case, the Ministry of Justice and the police will link information so that when the offender approaches the victim, both the officer protecting the victim and the probation officer supervising the offender are dispatched simultaneously.
By promoting real-time integration between the Ministry of Justice's location-tracking system and the Korean National Police Agency's 112 system, when an alert is triggered, the locations of the offender and the victim will be automatically received at the 112 command center, allowing real-time location checks on the map.
The Korean National Police Agency will strengthen the separation of dating violence offenders. It will also seek arrest warrants for high-risk offenders.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family decided to strengthen training for investigative and judicial agencies to account for the characteristics and risks of intimate partner violence.