VOCATIV ARTICLE, 2015.06.23
Originally posted here (archived)
Thousands Respond To Plea For Help In Alleged Sexual Slavery Case
Online communities are showing support for a South Korean woman claiming her husband forced her into sexual slavery
A South Korean housewife’s desperate plea for help in a case allegedly involving sexual slavery reaped a stunning outpouring of support: More than 27,000 tweets, 1,500 Instagram posts and 200 Tumblr blogs used a hashtag backing her, most of them in the last seven days.
The overwhelming response came particularly after the woman, Lee Jung Hee, posted a call online for help in pressuring police to investigate her husband for allegedly forcing her and her two sons into prostitution. Authorities had allegedly dropped the case despite Jung Hee’s efforts to raise awareness about it offline.
Vocativ was unable to independently verify Jung Hee’s identity or the claims she made in her post, published on a website popular among Korean women. According to one English translation of it, Jung Hee says her own family has accused her of being crazy.
But she isn’t the only one who appears to be making the allegations against her husband: Another post written by someone claiming to be one of Jung Hee’s sons says he, his brother and mother survived their alleged ordeal by “escaping and running away.” “When we reported our experiences of rape and sexual assault (to) the police in Seoul, they threatened us as if we were the criminals and did not even make an investigation,” the post said, according to an English translation.
Korean bloggers started an English-language hashtag campaign, #HelpLeeJungHee, in hopes that international attention could force South Korean authorities to investigate. Thousands of people around the world signed three online petitions calling for justice.
Victims of sexual assault face stigma in South Korea, where less than 4,000 out of 19,000 completed sexual assault cases resulted in convictions, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2013.
A South Korean housewife’s desperate plea for help in a case allegedly involving sexual slavery reaped a stunning outpouring of support: More than 27,000 tweets, 1,500 Instagram posts and 200 Tumblr blogs used a hashtag backing her, most of them in the last seven days.
The overwhelming response came particularly after the woman, Lee Jung Hee, posted a call online for help in pressuring police to investigate her husband for allegedly forcing her and her two sons into prostitution. Authorities had allegedly dropped the case despite Jung Hee’s efforts to raise awareness about it offline.
Vocativ was unable to independently verify Jung Hee’s identity or the claims she made in her post, published on a website popular among Korean women. According to one English translation of it, Jung Hee says her own family has accused her of being crazy.
But she isn’t the only one who appears to be making the allegations against her husband: Another post written by someone claiming to be one of Jung Hee’s sons says he, his brother and mother survived their alleged ordeal by “escaping and running away.” “When we reported our experiences of rape and sexual assault (to) the police in Seoul, they threatened us as if we were the criminals and did not even make an investigation,” the post said, according to an English translation.
Korean bloggers started an English-language hashtag campaign, #HelpLeeJungHee, in hopes that international attention could force South Korean authorities to investigate. Thousands of people around the world signed three online petitions calling for justice.
Victims of sexual assault face stigma in South Korea, where less than 4,000 out of 19,000 completed sexual assault cases resulted in convictions, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2013.