In landmark ruling, South Korea court recognises misogyny as motive for hate crime

SEOUL: An appellate court ruled on Oct 15 that an assault on a female convenience store clerk by a man in Jinju, in South Gyeongsang province, who was allegedly motivated by her short haircut, constituted a misogynistic hate crime.

The landmark ruling is the first time that a South Korean court has explicitly recognised misogyny as a condemnable motive in a criminal case.

The Changwon District Court upheld the Lower Court’s decision to put the attacker behind bars for three years for aggravated assault, destruction of property, and obstruction of business.

He was found guilty of attacking the female clerk and another man in his 50s who had tried to intervene.

Unlike the Lower Court’s decision, the judges at the appellate court stated in the ruling that the misogynistic nature of the assault was a key factor.

The attack took place at a convenience store in Hadae-dong, Jinju, in November 2023.

The defendant suspected the clerk to be a “feminist” based on her short hair, and reportedly said: “Feminists should be beaten up.”

The female victim was seriously injured, with her hearing permanently impaired. The male victim also had serious injuries and quit his job due to trauma.

“The defendant’s actions were rooted in baseless hatred and bias against women,” the court said.

“The defendant repeatedly declared ‘feminists deserve to be hit’ while attacking the female clerk and questioned the intervening male victim by asking ‘why aren’t you siding with a fellow man?’, indicating a misogynistic motive.”

However, the appellate court also denied the prosecution’s appeals to sentence him to five years in prison, saying it had failed to prove the accused was not in an unstable mental state at the time of the attack.

Women’s advocacy groups praised the court’s decision to define the case as South Korea’s “first misogynistic hate crime”, but expressed disappointment that the defendant’s unstable mental state was considered a mitigating factor in the ruling.

Jinju Sexual Violence Counselling Centre president Kang Kyung-min said: “It raises questions about why mental health issues should reduce the punishment severity for such egregious acts.

“Individuals have a responsibility to manage their mental and physical health. Why should an unstable mental state be a mitigating factor in sentencing?” – The Korea Herald/ANN