Sex abuse shows ugly side of ivory tower

Student bodies at Seoul-based universities are campaigning to curb sexual abuse on campus, calling for measures to prevent professors from molesting students.

Recent cases of sexual harassment by professors have raised questions over university faculty ethics. The uproar peaked last week, when a math professor surnamed Kang at Seoul National University, one of Korea’s most prestigious universities, was arrested for groping several of his students.

SNU swiftly issued a public apology over the scandal and vowed to “thoroughly investigate the case while looking for any other cases of abuse.” It also pledged to enhance ethics training for its staff.

In the wake of the incident, Ewha Womans University and Kyung Hee University are also reportedly seeking to expand their faculty’s ethics training.

Kyung Hee is also mulling a revision to school regulations to prevent anyone who had been accused of sex-related crimes from leaving school, temporarily or permanently, before the school completes its investigation. The revision was suggested by Kyung Hee’s student council on abolishing sexual discrimination, and officials are looking to implement it by next year.

Officials are hoping the move will demonstrate their resolve to deal sternly with sex crimes. Students and experts alike have pointed to a lack of punishment as a major factor behind reoccurring cases.

“Even if a sex crime victim does pluck up the courage to report the case, the schools’ investigation becomes stuck when the accused submits his resignation,” said a member of the council. Students usually report such cases to the school authorities rather than to police, partly because they are afraid of receiving disadvantages from other professors or the school.

A recent survey by a presidential committee dedicated to reflecting young people’s needs found that 65.3 percent of student victims in sex abuse cases did not take any action, mainly because they were afraid of repercussions of their actions.

One of the reasons students refrain from taking action is because many universities mandate them to submit their name, phone number and details of the abuse when they file a report. According to a school official at a Seoul-based university, this is to prohibit students from anonymously submitting false reports to penalize those they hold a grudge against.

Abuse victims, however, have said this stops most students from reporting abuse.

“The procedure says students have to use their real names in order to have school officials conduct in-depth investigation. This concept is just beyond my comprehension,” said a member of an emergency committee formed by alleged victims of the SNU’s professor Kang.

Some schools do not interfere even when there is a strong evidence of wrongdoing, Last week, Chung-Ang University prompted public outcry when it was revealed to have let a professor suspected of molesting female students multiple times continue teaching, because “it was hard to find a replacement for him.”

The professor in question had already admitted to taking “inappropriate action.”

In addition to lenient punishment, the lopsided balance of power between professors and students also plays a part in why sex crimes in universities happen so frequently. Professors have the authority to determine grades and whether or not to accredit dissertations.

“The relationship itself makes it hard for the student to confront the teacher, since whether he or she graduates is entirely up to their supervising professor,” Lee Soo-jung, a criminal psychology professor at Kyonggi University, said in a radio interview. “Abusers continue to take advantage of their victims, knowing they cannot resist. The perpetrators fail to recognize the gravity of their crimes in many cases, to the extent of regarding it as sort of a game.”

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)