SEOUL. Fourteen years after they were introduced into her daily life. seoulparking exclusively for women canceled by the authorities of the South Korean capital. The measure, indicative of the country’s misogynistic culture, was introduced in 2009 following a series of violent crimes in the city’s underground car parks. Officials said that now such restrictions are unnecessary and may be in the future. family parking spaces.

However, critics of the municipal authorities believe that the lifting of the measure simply confirms South Korea’s anti-feminist policies. Jung Eun-jung, 55, said she uses certain parking lots “because she feels safe… that there aren’t many dangerous people around.” “Whenever I get into a car, I always lock the door,” he said. Her daughter expressed outrage that her mother felt threatened. “It is strange that they are removing a measure that allowed women to feel safe. It’s not great either. Only a few places are reserved for women, not even half of the parking lot, ”he commented.

In Seoul, the country’s largest city, parking lots over 30 spaces require a 10% reservation for women. In other words, a total of 2,000 posts out of 16,640 are reserved for women. They are usually located near the entrance, so as not to make you walk alone in the dark for a long time. Government data shows that in 2021, more than two-thirds of violent crimes in city parking lots were sex-related: rape, sexual harassment, and harassment. “It’s time to think about families,” explained the mayor of the city, She Hong, who introduced the measure. The new “family” positions will target pregnant women or people with children.

steps back

The current government has removed the term “gender equality” from the school curriculum and is trying to abolish the Ministry of Equality. Feminist organizations seem to be alarmed by the parking issue, but are even more alarmed by the general retreat from the problem. For his part, pilot Cho Jung-gae believes that women’s parking spaces should be abolished, but for the opposite reason, because they discriminate against … men. “Walking an extra 100 meters is no reason for a woman to feel less safe, and right now all parking lots are full of cameras.”

The fact that women’s parking spaces were longer and wider was interpreted by some as reinforcing the stereotype that women had difficulty parking. However, according to the authorities, the reason is that women often have to put their children in and out of the car.