초록 열기/닫기 버튼
A series of special criminal law amendments were made this past December 18, 2012 in relation to sexually violent crimes, including the Criminal Act, Special Act on the Punishment, Etc. of Sexually Violent Crimes, and Act on the Protection of Children and Young Adults. The most distinguishing features of the December 2012 amendments include the full abolishment of provisions that make the prosecution of these crimes contingent on the victim’s filing a criminal complaint, and the change of language in the object of sexual crimes from “woman” to “person,” thus recognizing male victims of sexual crimes. In addition, the Special Act on the Punishment, Etc. of Sexually Violent Crimes provided legal basis for the protection and support for the victims of sex crimes, including victim’s counsel to prevent harm to the victim arising from the criminal process and to provide legal aid, witness support officers to protect and support the victims and others who stand witness, and witness assistants to provide assistance to those witnesses who have difficulty communicating. Victims of sexually violent crimes face such a difficult battle to reclaim their normal lives that they are termed “survivors.” The state has too much responsibility in failing to prevent these crimes in the first place to leave victims on their own to survive and overcome. Therefore, in addition to extending all efforts to efficiently implement the new systems in the amendments of December 2012 including victim’s counsel, witness support officers, and witness assistants, both the state and society must strive to discover and mend any deficiency in the preexisting solutions for sexual violence so that victims of sexual violence can reclaim their lives. Most of all, the best means to protect the victims of sexual violence is to prevent sexually violent crimes so there are no victims in the first place. To this end, means are necessary to prevent convicted sex criminals from committing future crimes given the high recidivism rate of these crimes, and also to prevent the victimization of potentially vulnerable groups through prevention education and the preparation and promotion of manuals on dealing with sexual violence. Sexual violence prevention education, far from being a formality to comply with mandatory regulations, should be made into effective tools to prevent sexual violence.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Sexually violent crimes, crimes whose prosecution is not contingent on criminal complaint, victim protection, counsel for victims, witness assistant, witness support officer, sexual violence prevention
