South Korea: 1st-Time Sex Offenders to Undergo Education Program From August

1st-Time Sex Offenders to Undergo Education Program From August
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter - Korea Times

An education program for first-time sex offenders who solicit prostitution will likely be introduced next month to reduce prostitution, according to authorities.

The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday that they are considering introducing the ``John School,’’ a school for sex offenders, in an effort to prevent repeat sex offenses on condition of suspension of their indictment.

The John School, so-named according to the expression ``Johns’’ that describes men buying sex, has been operating in the United States to educate prostitutes, human traffickers, brothel owners as well as clients.

It was originally launched in the U.S. in 1995 at the request of a San Francisco-based civic group called Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE).

The ministry said that former prostitutes will give lectures about sexual exploitation at the school, which will be funded with the fines imposed on the sex offenders.

The plan to introduce the system came as the current program for first-time sex offenders has failed as only a small number have chosen to complete the course since the implementation of the anti-prostitution law last September.

``Many men who are caught buying sex prefer to pay up to 1 million won in fines instead of completing the course,’’ a prosecution official said.

The ministry said that the new system is expected to be effective in raising awareness about sexual exploitation because sex offenders will be obliged to take the education program.

The current program offers the eight-hour classes, mostly conducted by the staff of the probation center, twice a week.

``The school is intended to shift from the current punishment-oriented crackdown on sex offenders to the education of the offenders on the sex trade. Under the new system, sex offenders will hear how the female sex workers were exploited and deprived of human rights in their own voices,’’ the prosecution official said.

The school to be set up in the probation center will provide lectures for first-time sex offenders given by the relevant experts and former female sex workers about eight hours a day in cooperation with the women activists groups.

Since the anti-prostitution law went into effect last year, the number of violators, including sex workers, clients and brothel owners, totaled 3,801 as of April. Of them, 2,337, or 61.5 percent, have been indicted, a 36.6-percent rise from previous years since the law went into effect.

Currently, John Schools operate in about 20 cities in the U.S. and 10 countries, with an average of 2 percent for second-time offenders among graduates.

chungay@koreatimes.co.kr

07-10-2005 18:28