Politicians in South Korea are working towards the amendment of existing laws to make 'semen terrorism' a criminal offence.
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The push follows several lenient punishments being given to men who secretly ejaculated into women’s belongings.
Courts in the country treat this as 'property damage' but lawmakers want it to be classified as a sex crime warranting stiffer punishment.
Semen Terrorism
According to the Guardian, semen terrorism is 'the act of secretly delivering or smearing semen onto someone else.'
South Korea has recorded several incidents of semen terrorism in the past couple of years, generating public outcry over the prosecution of offenders.
In May 2021, a man deposited semen in his colleague's coffee tumbler six times over the course of six months. The judge charged him with property damage and fined him the equivalent of £1,861.
In 2019, a woman was awarded damages worth £308, after a man was found guilty of soaking her shoes with semen. Police said they could not make a legal case for it to be treated as a sex crime, as there was no legal guidance for that.
In the same year, another man was sentenced to three years behind bars after repeatedly spiking the coffees of a woman with laxatives and aphrodisiacs repeatedly. He also added his semen and phlegm to the beverage more than 50 times, but the court based his sentencing on attempted injury.
Sex crimes
The global #MeToo movement has helped put the spotlight on the lenient treatment given to perpetrators of sex crimes in South Korea and the broader societal attitudes to sexual harassment.
According to local laws, an act is only recognised as a sex crime if there is physical violence or intimidation. Online and digital sex crimes are also punishable, but lawmakers want to expand the scope to include other acts such as semen terrorism.
Choi Won-jin is secretary general of the civil group, Korean Womenlink. She told the Guardian:
Every sex crime is a crime. This isn’t a random act of violence in the street, it’s targeting a specific gender.
