‘Spy cam porn’ epidemic in South Korea sees non-consenual pictures ‘spread uncontrollably’

Study finds women and girls avoiding public toilets and even feeling anxious in their homes

South Korea is currently grappling with an epidemic of ‘spy cam porn’ which usually involves men secretly filming women without their consent in places like toilets, changing rooms, and hotels (AFP via Getty Images)

The sharing of sexual images of woman and girls without gaining their consent is a prevalent issue in South Korea, according to new research.

Human Rights Watch, which carried out the study, said the issue is having “devastating” repercussions on victims as they warned the images can “spread uncontrollably”.

South Korea is currently grappling with an epidemic of “spy cam porn” which usually involves men secretly filming women without their consent in places like toilets, changing rooms, and hotels. The footage obtained from the cybersex crime can then be sold for cash.

But the leading human rights organisation, whose report was titled ‘My Life is Not Your Porn’: Digital Sex Crimes in South Korea, also focuses on revenge porn as well as doctored and faked images.

Heather Barr, the study’s author, said: “Digital sex crimes have become so common, and so feared, in South Korea that they are affecting the quality of life of all women and girls.

“Women and girls told us they avoided using public toilets and felt anxious about hidden cameras in public and even in their homes. An alarming number of survivors of digital sex crimes said they had considered suicide.”

Ms Barr, who is interim co-director of women’s rights at Human Rights Watch, added: “Anyone who has ever viewed one of these nonconsensual images could have taken a screenshot and can share that screenshot any time, on any website, from which it may spread uncontrollably.

“Survivors are forced to deal with these crimes for the rest of their lives – with little assistance from the legal system.”

The campaigner warned officials in South Korea’s criminal justice system routinely appear “to simply not understand, or not accept, that these are very serious crimes” - adding the majority of the officials are men.

Women and girls who fall victim to these crimes are forced to battle against massive obstacles to justice, the report warned.

Researchers added: “Police often refuse to accept their complaints and behave in abusive ways, minimizing harm, blaming them, treating images insensitively, and engaging in inappropriate interrogation.

“When cases move ahead, survivors struggle to obtain information about their cases and to have their voices heard by the court.”

Researchers, who carried out interviews with cyber sex crime victims and experts, discovered fewer than four per cent of sex crime prosecutions in South Korea involved illegal filming back in 2008. But the amount of such cases had surged elevenfold by 2017 - rising from 585 cases to 6,615, and now making up 20 per cent of sex crime prosecutions.

Ms Barr added: “The root cause of digital sex crimes in South Korea is widely accepted harmful views about and conduct toward women and girls that the government urgently needs to address.

“The government has tinkered with the law but has not sent a clear and forceful message that women and men are equal, and misogyny is unacceptable.”

Record numbers of women have taken to the streets in recent years in South Korea – where patriarchal values are profoundly ingrained – to call for greater equality and to fight against issues such as non-consensual filming and sexual assault.