In 2010, an 8-year-old girl was kidnapped in broad daylight in a playground by a man who took her to a public restroom and proceeded to rape her. To get rid of any evidence that it was he who tortured her, the man took a bathroom plunger and pumped out her large intestine and washed the semen and blood from her revealed intestines. Now after more than 10 years has passed, the victim has to live with an artificial anus due to extreme genital mutilation.

In 2015, a 15-year-old girl was walking home at night. She was just one kilometer from her home. Suddenly, a stranger jumped from behind her and threatened her with a weapon, telling her to stay quiet. The young girl was dragged up to the second floor of a newly constructed apartment where she was raped.
In 2016, near Gangnam station, a woman was stabbed by a homeless man in a public bathroom. The man stated that he carried out his crime for vengeance against women who he thought looked down on him. With this illogical reasoning, he murdered a woman he had never seen before.

With these brutal cases in mind, how true is the statement that Korea is one of the safest countries in the world? Unnoticed by the world, Korean women, and men, face fears of being kidnapped and raped daily. Statistics support the people’s view. Sexual crimes occur in South Korea at an average of 3.4 cases per hour, and there was a total of 29,257 sexual crimes reported in 2016 including rape, indecent assault, and illegal filming. Date rape reports have increased by over ten percent per year since 2015. We, potential victims, are warned daily of the dangers that surround us. We are told to avoid walking alone (even in broad daylight) and to never, under any circumstances, walk in the alley when it is dark. We are chided by our mothers to close our legs while sitting down to look “feminine” and keep oneself “safe.” We are also told to put on makeup but not too much to be attractive enough for men, but not too attractive to look like “you are asking for it.” We are told to change into more covering clothing when our father’s friends visit our homes, as these men apparently cannot keep their eyes off their friend’s daughters.

I have been creating such an app locating police stations, safe boxes, etc. in Korea and recording the closest pathways to such places. This way, the innocent would be able to quietly reach a safe place without letting their attackers know. Moreover, by entering a police station, she would be surrounded by supporters and would be safer than if she just confronts the perpetrator in a dark street.

The app is just one possible step forward in finding a solution. However, this issue is complicated and still has a long way before it is resolved. The fact that half of the population of Korea has to fear freely walking down the street should be addressed soon. For the moment, as there the government and public are unwilling to accept this fear as a tangible predicament, women, and in some cases men, have to protect themselves from the evils.

The long-term version would be gender equality and the acknowledgment of the existence of a problem. As stated beforehand, Korea loves to ignore the gender inequality prevalent in the country. For those rare instances when they do address it, they only pity the men, stating that this modern society is trying to repress men. When people are finally able to change their way of thought and understand that jokes start to become insults when they are offending, Korea will become a much safer country.