Seoul starts shelters for stalked women and men

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, fourth from left, speaks during a meeting with experts on support measures for victims of stalking on Monday at Seoul 1366. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

Shelters for stalking victims are being set up following the recent murder in a subway station restroom of a woman who had been stalked by a colleague.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced Monday that the city is opening three protection facilities for stalking victims — the first of their kind in the country — in October that offer shelter as well as counseling.

“A tragic incident occurred recently,” Oh said at a meeting at Seoul 1366, an emergency support center for women, on Monday afternoon, referring to the Seoul Metro worker who was fatally stabbed in the ladies' toilet in Sindang Station on Line No. 2 on Sept. 14. She was stalked by her colleague for years.

There has been no facility dedicated to protecting victims of stalking in Korea. Some victims made use of facilities for domestic violence or sexual violence survivors.

Male victims of stalking were sent to temporary shelters or facilities for the homeless.

Seoul’s new facilities are aimed at providing shelter from threats of stalking such as home invasions, and will offer counseling for trauma, the city government explained.

Of the three protection facilities, two are for women and one is for men. They have room for up to ten women and four men. Victims can stay up to a year.

They are different from facilities for domestic violence or sexual violence victims as they allow people to continue their daily lives normally. The one for men will be Korea's first male-only protection facility.

“In the case of domestic violence cases, victims often enter the shelter with a child, and the use of phones is restricted because [the violent] parent can track locations through a child's phone,” explained Kang Ji-hyun, a senior official at the city's Gender Equality Policy Division.

“But stalkers are often someone the victim has been romantically involved with, and they can't usually track the location through the partner's phone.”

From next year, Seoul City will also implement a “one-stop support services for stalking victims” where victims can receive services such as mental health care, legal aid and medical care all under one roof. Previously, such services were offered by various organizations.

The city will also provide technological aid such as giving out emergency alarm systems for homes. Once an alarm is raised, the home address will be displayed at a district control center, and the police will be dispatched.

A kind of bodyguard service is also being planned to help stalked people get to and from work undisturbed. The number of guards will gradually be expanded.

The National Police Agency announced last week that it will provide security guards for high-risk stalking victims for 14 days, and will test-run the service from next year starting with the greater capital area.

“Like the proverb ‘little strokes fell great oaks,’ chasing after someone you like was deemed a way of expressing love for a long time in Korea,” said Kang.

“It was not until last October that the anti-stalking law first went into effect, and people got the impression that continuously following someone is a crime and can be punished under the law,” Kang said. “Seoul City will take the lead in the protection of victims of stalking.”

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]