The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) published the "Decisions on Recommendation of Reform for Sexual Harassment Cases" to mark the second anniversary of taking on gender discrimination and sexual harassment cases. Since June 23, 2005 the Commission singlehandedly dealt with sexual harassment cases that used to be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
The publication compiles 23 cases that the Commission issued recommendations for up until May 2007. In order to help the readers understand about sexual harassment matters that the Commission deals with, the publication includes the full text of the decisions as wells as introduction and current statistics on sexual harassment cases for which the Commission issued recommendations for redress.
So far 226 sexual harassment petitions were filed with the Commission of which 204 cases were concluded. Remedies for sexual harassment cases include issuance of recommendation for redress, conciliation, mutual settlement, resolution during investigation, etc. Through these diverse mechanisms for resolution, the rate of actual remedy provided in sexual harassment cases excluding those cases that do not fall within the purview of investigatory jurisdiction of the Commission amount to 83%. More cases were resolved through conciliation or mutual settlement which is quicker and more efficient for the parties concerned than the Commission finalizing the case through the issuance of recommendation upon completion of the investigation.
However, as yet there is a lack of understanding on what sexual harassment is and also an absence of standard and guidance on what amounts to sexual harassment. The Commission hopes that this publication will be of assistance in establishing a standard on sexual harassment. Furthermore the goal of publishing sexual harassment decisions of the Commission is to be of use and to provide a valuable tool for counsellors and educators of sexual harassment at work or at school and for all those who are working towards the goal of achieving a society free of sexual harassment.
