‘Digital sexual violence insurance’ sparks backlash for monetizing fear

A new insurance program targeting victims of digital sexual violence -- such as spy cams or revenge pornography -- sparked backlash from women’s rights advocates, a local news media reported.

According to Kyunghyang Shinmun on Thursday, a big-name insurance company in South Korea has conducted preliminary market research to develop private insurance for digital sexual violence victims. The coverage would include monetary compensation for the client’s psychological damage as well as payment for cybersecurity professionals to wipe offending materials from the internet.

Women’s right groups in Korea responded to the insurance plan critically, accusing it of being commercial exploitation of women’s fear.

“This insurance speaks to the grim reality in which companies monetize women’s fear where societywide protection is unavailable,” an official from the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center told Kyunghyang Shinmun.

Women’s rights advocates have also pointed out the insurance renders protection against sexual crimes to a matter of personal responsibility, when it should be publicly administered by the government.

As the insurance program is still under development, whether it will be launched on the market is yet unclear, an official from the insurance company told Kyunghyang Shinmun.


(mjk625@heraldcorp.com)