Domestic Abusers to Face Stalking-Level Measures, Including Electronic Anklets

[Anchor]

Police provide smartwatches to victims of so-called relationship-based crimes, including domestic violence. When a victim presses the button, an emergency report is filed and their location is transmitted so that police can be dispatched. Electronic anklets, which are location-tracking devices managed by the Ministry of Justice, serve to monitor whether perpetrators enter restricted areas such as the victims' residences. Previously, electronic anklets could be attached for sex offenses or murder, and starting the year before last, pre-trial attachment became possible for stalking offenders as well. Now, going a step further, authorities have decided to push for a plan to put electronic anklets on domestic violence perpetrators as well.

Here is a report by reporter Bae Seong-jae.

[Reporter]

Three days ago in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, a man in his 70s, surnamed A, stabbed and killed his estranged wife.

Mr. A's wife had reported her husband to the police eight times since last April for domestic violence and other issues, and even obtained a court-ordered restraining order.

The murder of a mother-in-law in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 11th, and the murder of a wife by a public official committed in front of their 5-year-old daughter in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, last month, were all incidents that took place while the perpetrators were under restraining orders issued for domestic violence charges.

As relationship-based violent crimes starting from domestic violence continue to occur, the police have unveiled a plan to elevate measures against domestic violence perpetrators to the level of stalking crimes.

First, the requirements for applying "Temporary Measure No. 5," which detains perpetrators in holding cells or detention centers, will be relaxed. Furthermore, sanctions for violating "emergency temporary measures" such as restraining orders or eviction orders will be raised from fines to prison sentences and penal fines, matching the level of stalking crimes.

A revision of the law to attach location-tracking electronic devices, the so-called electronic anklets, to domestic violence perpetrators is also under review.

This is because while stalking offenders can be ordered by a court to wear electronic devices, there has been no legal basis to do so for domestic violence perpetrators.

However, experts point out that beyond monitoring approaches to victims' homes or workplaces through electronic anklets, fundamental measures are needed to block perpetrators from approaching in other locations as well.

[Oh Yoon-sung / Professor of Police Administration, Soonchunhyang University : For example, when they enter within a 100-meter radius of the victim, it can automatically alert the relevant police station and the victim....]

Since both devices are equipped with location-tracking functions, methods such as measuring and monitoring the distance between the perpetrator's electronic anklet and the victim's smartwatch are being discussed.

However, because the management authorities are split between the Ministry of Justice and the police respectively, seamless information sharing and the integration of device management systems are pointed out as prerequisite tasks.

(Video by So Ji-hye, Design by Cho Soo-in and Lee Jae-joon)

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