Serious problems with the administration of the country's correctional system are coming to the surface in the wake of an attempted suicide by a female prison inmate at the Seoul Detention Center upset at being sexually abused there. She had been psychologically unstable after the incident and treatment was started six days later. It was serious enough for her to be treated for her mental state, and yet officials did not do anything in particular to protect her. The sexual abuse is serious enough, but so is the poor state of care for victims.
As we have noted, there immediately needs to be better institutional improvements in the way prisons provide for the rights of female prisoners. This latest incident, however, wakes you up to how that alone will not be enough. If Seoul Detention Center had taken appropriate protective action immediately following the incident it easily would have been able to prevent further injury in the form of the woman's suicide attempt. Correctional administration with holes in it essentially ignored a victim being pushed towards death.
The reason there was almost no effort to prevent further harm was because of a lack of awareness about the harm caused by sexual violence, which makes victims feel extremes of insecurity, depression, and a sense that they are somewhat guilty for not having responded differently. Then, in the course of the investigation, they frequently experience feelings of humiliation all over again. This is why victims of sexual crimes need special care. Prison officers need to be made aware of the particularities, and official procedures need to meet the needs at hand.
It is still suspected that there was a cover-up, so there needs to be a truth-finding inquiry and anyone involved must be held responsible. Something else that must not be neglected is improving the environment in correctional facilities. Both inmates and prisoners need to enjoy stable conditions if we are going to expect to have the system help inmates return to society.
The Hankyoreh, 27 February 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Correctional System Neglecting Sexual Abuse, Suicide |
