Many South Korean women face sexism on a daily basis, and as a result, in recent years, they have taken a radical stance: they refuse to marry, date men, have sex, and have children. This movement, known as the “four nos”, began in 2019. It has since been circulated in the hope that Yoon Suk-yeol’s conservative government will take action to promote gender equality.

According to a study by Statista, the gender pay gap in South Korea is large, with men earning 30% more than women. According to the Korean Herald, South Korea has the highest level of gender inequality of any OECD member state.

In addition, South Korea has a poor work-life balance, as well as an uneven distribution of household responsibilities. Women often take sole responsibility for raising children, forcing them to choose between work and motherhood. In South Korea, the work week is 52 hours.

The “four nos” movement unofficially began following the inauguration of the incumbent president of South Korea, who initially expressed his intention to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality.

“The lives of many young people are not going well, for whom it is no longer natural to get married or have children,” Lee Sunlim, a demographer at the South Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs, told The New York Times.

The country is on high alert as it is estimated that an average of 2.1 children per woman is needed to maintain population stability. In 2020, in South Korea, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births. Many cities are threatened with extinction in the coming years.

Hawon Jang, author of Fire Flowers: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement, tells EL PAÍS that the movement came about because of government policies in a country she considers too conservative.

“Unmarried mothers are stigmatized, doctors refuse to give IVF to women without a partner, although it is not illegal, and extramarital births account for only 2% of the total, compared with an average of 41% for women in OECD countries. . Marriage and childbearing are closely intertwined — women are forced to sacrifice their careers after having a baby or getting married,” she says.

Resistance to “perfect beauty” and filming without consent

Feminist movements have historically been very effective in the country, having achieved milestones such as the decriminalization of abortion in 2021 or the changing perceptions of female beauty.

The Corset Escape movement achieved success in 2017 when the Seoul subway decided to ban plastic surgery ads from all of its stations.

From a young age, women in South Korea are bombarded with advertisements suggesting they should have a slim figure, soft skin, flawless skin, and a perfect face shape. In a country with the highest per capita rate of plastic surgery, appearance obviously also plays a big role. The ability of women to develop and live independent lives in a political, economic and social context is controlled by a terribly obsessive, almost obsessive beauty plastic surgery and post-school diet so that the new woman can compete in the job market and spend money on facials, hairdressing and removal products. hair.

At the same time, gender-based violence is widespread — in a 2017 survey of 2,000 South Korean men, nearly 80% of respondents admitted to abusing their partners — compared to global estimates, one in three women have experienced violence. The National Curriculum for Sexuality Education, published in 2015, has been widely criticized for perpetuating harmful gender stereotypes.

In 2021, women in the country protested a practice called “molka” – the use of hidden tiny cameras to take nude images without their consent and then share them.

The 96-page report My Life Is Not Your Porn: Digital Sex Crimes in South Korea finds that despite legal reforms, women and girls who are victims of digital sex crimes often face indifference from police and courts . The report was based on 38 interviews and an online survey of hundreds of women.

In 2008, less than 4% of sex crime prosecutions in South Korea involved illegal filming. By 2017, the number of such cases had increased elevenfold, from 585 cases to 6,615, and accounted for 20% of prosecutions for sexual offenses. Authorities initially focused their interest on using tiny cameras (“spy cams”) to covertly record material in places such as restrooms, changing rooms and hotels.

Targeted women and girls face significant barriers to justice. The police often refuse to accept their complaints, downplaying the incidents, blaming the women and conducting inappropriate interrogations. When cases are ongoing, survivors often have difficulty getting information about their cases and getting their voices heard in court.

In 2019, prosecutors filed 43.5% of digitally motivated sex crimes, compared to 27.7% of murder cases and 19% of robbery cases. Judges often give lenient sentences — in 2020, 79% of people convicted of using personal images without consent received a suspended sentence, a fine, or a combination of both. 52% received only a suspended sentence. The problems women face in the justice system are exacerbated by the shortage of female police officers, prosecutors and judges.

According to EL Pais, BBC.