The Korean Catholic Times' View From the Ark column reports on violence that is all too well known in many parts of the world. The columnist is a humanities professor.
The violence reported in the news in recent months has been brutal beyond imagination. There have been cases where victims of violence during a relationship were murdered, cases where victims were sexually assaulted online and offline, threatened with the distribution of illegal videos, and cases where photos were stolen, deepfake videos were distributed, and money was extorted.
A famous female YouTuber confessed that her ex-boyfriend threatened to distribute illegally filmed videos and extorted a large amount of money. It is shocking that other male YouTubers found out about this and threatened the victim to demand money.
We live in a society where, rather than considering respect and consideration as a basic courtesy, the attitude that the other party’s harm is irrelevant as long as my interests and desires are pursued is prevalent. The lack of sensitivity to violence is not unrelated to interpreting welfare policies for marginalized groups in terms of poverty, age, gender, and disability as preferential treatment or reverse discrimination.
Although there has been no progress in gender equality in education and employment, underrepresentation has not been resolved, and women are not safe from violence based on male-centered thinking or misogyny.
Gender violence cannot be resolved without understanding gender power relations. However, when women are asked to act as fair, independent, and equal subjects, the violent damage they experience is trivialized. This culture supports the common belief that women bring harm to themselves. It is also unacceptable that the punishment is reduced when the perpetrator uses his or her power or is a first-time offender.
Kate Manne, a professor of philosophy at Cornell University in the United States, calls excessive sympathy for male perpetrators “himpathy” in her book “Down Girl: Misogyny.” She criticizes the culture that, behind blaming victims, pities perpetrators and interprets them as having a reason to commit crimes.
The fact that perpetrators are not monsters or horned people but ordinary people acts as compassion for the perpetrator’s situation. This is in contrast to the lack of compassion for victims. In our society, there is a tendency to doubt whether victims seduced women and not understand the victim’s situation.
In “Sexual Violence in the Market,” women’s studies researcher describes a situation in which perpetrators become more vicious as legal punishment regulations for sexual violence victims are created. Since sexual crime records are disclosed and can lead to restrictions on employment, perpetrators of sexual violence use all means to avoid punishment. They hire “competent” lawyers and even counter-sue victims for defamation.
Women’s groups are shocked to discover that perpetrators of sexual violence have transferred donations to their bank accounts. These donations are used as materials for the perpetrator to reflect on their crimes, which helps reduce the sentence.
In dramas and movies, stories where individuals punish perpetrators despite the pain of the victims and their families are popular because they do not receive due legal punishment. They judge perpetrators for justice, thereby quelling public anger and comforting victims and their families. However, when the judicial system does not judge injustice, private punishment can lead to abuse of power or violence due to the absence of reflection.
In “Anger and Forgiveness,” American political philosopher Martha Nussbaum criticizes the culture of forcing forgiveness on victims even when they do not have the will to forgive. She also explains that while personal revenge by victims and their families can alleviate their anger and pain, it does not prevent the vicious cycle of repeating the same crime. Therefore, she emphasizes that for a society to heal the wounds of victims and their families, it must sympathize with their pain and provide them with generous comfort.
Sympathizing with the pain of victims means that we must create social mechanisms for prevention and response to prevent crime and violence and prevent the creation of more victims. These devices are not just meant to be used for surveillance or punishment. When members of society become sensitive to gender-based violence, women can be assured of their safety.
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