On September 6th, the National Police Agency (NPA) announced that 1,713 people are booked after receiving 3,675 reports during the “intensive report period of dating violence” which were held from July to August. Dating violence refers to physical, mental, sexual violence that occur between former or current lovers. According to the NPA, 19,940 cases of dating violence were reported in 2019, and the number was increased by 41 percent than in 2017. Dating violence has become serious problem as average 8 victims are killed per month. Why does dating violence increase every year?

First of all, the lack of awareness of dating violence is a reason. Dating violence is composed of not only physical harm but also the mental, economic harm, along with cyber bulling using social network services. However, compared to the wide range, a weak awareness of dating violence is causing problems. Indeed, lots of dating violence is glorified in the mass media. For example, in the drama “Another Miss Oh”, a scene in which a male protagonist pushes a woman against the wall and kisses her which is a variance of dating violence became a famous scene. A song by singer “S” has lyrics that say he feels “excited” while stalking his former girlfriend. The number of reports of dating violence increases every year, but the number of criminal charges is decreasing. The number of criminal charges for dating violence was 10,303 in 2017, but it was dropped to 9,868 in 2019. Park Hae-Il (Detective, Busan Metropolitan Police Agency) said, “There are few cases of criminal charges because cases such as mere disputes are sometimes closed at the spot, but since it happened between the relationship, there are many cases that the victim does not recognize it as criminal and does not want his or her lover to be sentenced. Choi Ran-Ju (Counselor, PNU Human Rights Center) said, “There is also a problem with the term dating violence itself, this is because violence in the name of love can be perceived as a simple emotional fight rather than a crime. There is not enough education on dating violence in public education either. In the case of college students, they are required to complete the relevant education once a year, for more than two hours, and although the Human Rights Center has uploaded lectures on the PLATO for students, it is questionable whether they are taken or not properly." On the other hand, the United States(U.S.) designates every February as a month for preventing dating violence to promote citizens' awareness of dating violence, and offers self-diagnosis of dating violence, prevention programs, and way to report by opening a web page in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also, the current system in Korea is insufficient to prevent dating violence. Under the current law, there is a domestic violence law that allows the separation of perpetrators and victims between a married couple. However, since there is no law dealing with dating violence, it is impossible to separate the perpetrator from the victim between a couple who are not married. Therefore, even if a dating violence is committed, only a simple assault charge is applied and it is up to only a fine and low punishment. In fact, last August, a man was fined only 3,000,000 won for abusing his lover by hitting and burning his lover’s skin with a cigarette. In addition, 28,915 people are convicted of dating violence over the past three years. However, 1,259 people were actually arrested, accounting for only 4.4 percent of the total. In January, a person who was accused of holding and assaulting his lover eight times was suspended. In addition, in 2009, a person who killed his lover was commuted from six years to three years in prison at the first trial because it was an accidental crime with a first-time offender. Kwack Dae-Gyung (Prof of. College of Police and Criminal Justice, Dongguk University) said, "These low sentences could soon lead to repeated violence. In fact, in 2019, the recidivism rate of dating violence has reached 76 percent. A three-strike-out system for dating violence which allows a formal indictment of a perpetrator in case of three dating violence has been introduced, but its effectiveness has been questioned as only two dating violence cases have not been prosecuted.” Furthermore, under the current law, stalking, which is one example of dating violence, is defined as the Minor Offense Punishment Law which imposes under 10,000 won in fines or detention. On the other hand, unlike in Korea, foreign countries have various laws to prevent dating violence. In England, there is a so-called “Caire’s law” which can track a lover's record of violence. In the U.S., there is the “Katie’s law” that applies to all states. The Kate’s law allows couples to order separation or impose heavier punishments on dating violence.

Prof. Kwack said, "Dating violence is a serious crime because the victim is in serious physical and mental distress. We need proper education that corrects widespread misconceptions of dating violence in the society, and we need to prevent these criminals through the implementation of a suitable system."

By Lee Dong-Kyu, Reporter

goldenegg@pusan.ac.kr