S. Korea to open comprehensive relief center dedicated to sexual crime victims

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will open a comprehensive state body to assist victims of sexual crime in a bid to help them with the process of notifying police, according to the gender ministry on Friday.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reported the plan to a meeting of government ministers in charge of social affairs, held earlier in the day.

Amid a series of "Me Too" revelations last year, the government set up relief centers for each occupational sector so that sexual crime victims could more quickly report their grievances to police.

Since then, the government has built on the measures to come up with a more effective government body to deal with sexual crime cases.

Under the upgraded plan, the new center, tentatively named "assistance center for eradication of sexual harassment and violence," will serve sexual crime victims from all walks of life, providing a range of services, from counseling through police notification to other protection measures through and after legal action is taken, according to the gender ministry.

In the event of a request from an affected organization, the center will also dispatch a team of experts to assist the organization in processing a sexual violence case to protect victims from secondary damage that could often take place in a sexual crime case.

In a related measure, the gender ministry will also revamp regulations regarding sexual violence, requiring state institutions to report to the ministry any sexual abuses cases and running a special team to deal with sexual violence inside all levels of schools.

The measure includes the enactment of a law on the protection of the rights and status of artists, aimed at more effectively coping with sexual violence cases among artists.

"The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will step up the system to protect sexual abuse victims so that they can notify (the police) without fears of secondary damage," Gender Minister Lee Jung-ok said.

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