Students speaking out against sexual harassment from teachers

The #Metoo movement that has been sweeping Korea since January is starting to spread to schools. A girls’ high school in Gwangju is undergoing a police investigation for sexual harassment by teachers.  The investigation was launched after the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education last week found that 180 out of 860 students at the school had experienced sexual harassment and verbal abuse. The school has 57 teachers, and 11 of them have been questioned by police.  It is shocking that as many as 20 percent of the school’s teaching staff were suspected of either verbally or physically abusing their students. The case has enraged many parents of daughters. But regardless of possible class disruption from the investigation, the teachers that have inflicted any kind of abuse on the students must face severe consequences.  According to news reports, some of these teachers made inappropriate comments on the students’ appearance, touching them or even likening them to bar hostesses. People who behave in such a manner should be stripped of their teaching license.  The Gwangju case should prompt a thorough investigation into all girls’middle and high schools across the country to ensure a safe learning environment for female students.  Hopefully, the case will encourage girls to be braver about speaking out against sexual abuse and discrimination.

(Korea Times)