Sperm terrorism: what is this sexist scourge that is hitting South Korea?

According to a report by Korean magazine The Women's News relayed by MEL Magazine, in South Korea, "44 cases related to semen attacks were filed between 2019 and July 2021". In reality, this type of aggression is probably more common and has been around for much longer.

The problem is also legal since when the courts convict these attackers, it is for having damaged the property of their victims by soiling them with their sperm, and not for the attack itself. Last May, a man was sentenced for having enjoyed six times in the cafe of one of his colleagues. His sentence ? 2,500 euros fine, reports the Guardian. Only damage to personal property was considered.

Women's rights groups have called on lawmakers to address the phenomenon of "sperm terrorism." In August, lawmakers submitted a bill to criminalize such acts in South Korea, the British media explained. The Korean Womenlink group considers this a hate crime against women. Baek Hye-ryun, a South Korean Democratic politician, sees it as "sexual humiliation".

These back-to-back meetings 😭I have not been so occupied since before quarantine. I forgot how to be an assertive… https://t.co/dhTekoWV9R

— MARGIE 🤎 Wed Oct 14 22:29:16 +0000 2020

A phenomenon also present in the United States

The phenomenon is not confined to Korea and is found in many countries. In 2014, an American repeatedly ejaculated in the cafe of one of his colleagues "to seduce her". He was fined $4,500. Most recently in February 2020, a Maryland man stabbed a woman with a needle filled with his semen.

Jennifer Long, a former prosecutor and director of the organization AEquitas, which fights to change legal norms regarding gender-based violence, reminds MEL Magazine that in the United States, sexual assault in general — and that based on sperm in particular — are grossly under-reported.

In April 2019, many women spoke on social networks under the #BalanceTonMétro. They denounced the "scrubbers", these men who stick to women in public transport. "I turned around, and I saw a man masturbating while staring at us. He ejaculated next to me", then explained a young woman to Parisian. In France, for the event to be qualified as sexual assault, it must be demonstrated that it took place with violence, threat, surprise or constraint.