The organisers of the largest women’s rights protests South Korea has ever witnessed say they have been forced to hide their identities after threats of acid attacks and the risk of losing their jobs in a backlash against an unprecedented wave of female-led activism.
T he organisers of the largest women’s rights protests South Korea has ever witnessed say they have been forced to hide their identities after threats of acid attacks and the risk of losing their jobs in a backlash against an unprecedented wave of female-led activism.
In a rare interview, the group, which calls itself ‘Women’s March For Justice’, told The Telegraph that “we are ridiculed and even fired from our jobs because we speak out… women can only survive by maintaining their anonymity because Korean society is run by men.”
The traditionally conservative society of Asia’s fourth largest economy has seen snowballing protests against sexist behaviour since the start of the year after a female public prosecutor went public with allegations of workplace sexual harassment, adding a Korean voice to the global #MeToo movement.
Last week a government clampdown on surgical abortions became the trigger for the latest in a long line of women’s demonstrations, this time calling for reproductive freedom as a fundamental right.
However, it is the sinister issue of “spycam” videos, which involve men secretly filming women in toilets, changing rooms and other public places, that has sparked the most fury.
In early August, more than 40,000 women took to the streets of Seoul in what has now become a monthly gathering organised by ‘Women’s March For Justice’ to force the authorities to take action over what has become a gross invasion of privacy in daily life.
“The fear towards spycams that many Korean women have felt has now turned to anger,” said the organisers, who are currently planning their next demonstration.
