"Ex-Partner Threatens with Excavator": Rising Dating Violence Highlights Difficulty of Safe Breakups

In May, a woman in her 60s in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, called the police in a desperate voice, reporting that someone was threatening to destroy her house with an excavator.

The perpetrator, a man in his 60s who arrived at the scene drunk in an excavator, was the woman's former partner.

After they broke up, the man had demanded she "meet him again," and when she refused, he brought an excavator to threaten her and assaulted her son who tried to intervene. He was arrested by police dispatched to the scene and has since been detained.

In late January, a woman made an urgent 112 call, reporting that someone was trying to enter her home by opening the windows of her living room and bedroom.

The intruder was a former boyfriend she had broken up with a year prior. He was caught in the act by police who arrived at the scene.

As "dating violence," which can escalate into violent crimes, continues to occur across the country, reports are also on the rise in Jeju.

Although the police have strengthened countermeasures, such as operating a comprehensive manual for responding to dating violence by situation, such incidents persist, and blind spots remain.

Since 2017, the police have added a specific category for dating violence in 112 report codes, and since 2023, they have unified the terminology to "dating violence" for management purposes.

According to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency on July 12, there were 819 reports of dating violence from January 1 to May 31 of this year.

This is a 16.5% (116 cases) increase compared to the 703 cases reported during the same period last year.

Out of these reports, 89 individuals were booked for criminal charges, a 50.8% (30 people) increase from the 59 booked during the same period last year.

Jeju residents also express high levels of anxiety regarding gender-based violence.

According to a survey conducted by the Jeju Women & Family Research Institute from May 15 to June 20 last year, targeting 1,030 men and women aged 15 or older in the province, women in Jeju rated their fear of gender-based violence at an average of 2.85 points, which is higher than the national average of 2.64 for women.

Among the 979 respondents, 6% (61 people) stated they had experienced dating violence.

Of the victims, 85% were women and 15% were men.

While 100% of the male victims experienced dating violence "while in a relationship," women reported a relatively higher rate of victimization "when asking to break up" or "during the early stages of a relationship."

However, a legislative vacuum persists as bills related to dating violence have yet to pass the National Assembly.

Although police accept reports of dating violence even in cases where there is no physical meeting but coercive demands for a relationship are made, punishment under relevant laws is only possible if assault, threats, or stalking occur.

The existing Act on the Punishment of Domestic Violence applies only to marital relationships, and the Stalking Punishment Act does not apply unless stalking occurs in a one-sided relationship, leaving victims of dating violence in a blind spot.

Furthermore, assault is a crime subject to the rule that prosecution cannot be initiated against the express will of the victim; if the victim does not want punishment, the case often ends with a warning.

In cases of stalking, if there is a high risk of recidivism based on an integrated risk assessment, various measures are taken, such as prohibiting the perpetrator from approaching within 100 meters of the victim's residence or using telecommunications to contact them.

Additionally, victims can be provided with a smartwatch that includes a reporting function to send emergency alerts in case of recurrence, but this has limitations.

Regarding this, Kang Kyung-sook, head of the Gender Plus Research Institute, pointed out, "Smartwatches are merely a measure to notify after an incident occurs rather than preventing the crime, and restraining orders are limited to the vicinity of the residence, so they need to be expanded to include places the victim frequently visits."

In fact, on July 5 in Gyeonggi Province, a woman in her 60s was stabbed to death by her ex-partner, a man in his 50s who was under a restraining order.

The woman had alerted authorities to the danger using her provided smartwatch, but she was found dead in an alleyway she frequented.

Experts advise that to prevent dating violence, a clear definition of the term and corresponding measures are necessary.

Kim Hyo-jung, an associate research fellow at the Korean Women's Development Institute, emphasized in her report, "Characteristics of Dating Violence and Future Tasks for Response," that "to prevent dating violence and establish effective punishment for perpetrators and protection for victims, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of dating violence, which manifests as forced consent and coerced relationships based on coercive control."

Dating violence is a form of intimate partner violence; while it can manifest in explosive and direct forms of violence, it sometimes persists in indirect and subtle ways, gradually becoming more rigid.

Therefore, she suggests that institutional intervention is needed in the process before coercive control is expressed in extreme or explosive ways.

"Dating violence is rooted in unequal gender power relations and hatred, accompanied by misogynistic values and attitudes, as well as coercive control aimed at establishing a subordinate and hierarchical relationship," said Kang.

She added, "Perpetrators may perceive the other person's request to break up as something beyond their control and power, leading to anger that is expressed in extreme ways, such as violence or murder."

In the "Jeju Gender-Based Violence Survey" by the Jeju Women & Family Research Institute, the most requested form of help by victims of dating violence was "protection from the perpetrator," followed by "psychological counseling and treatment."

The survey also indicated that the most important measure for eradicating dating violence is "strengthening punishment for perpetrators."

Lee Yeon-hwa, a senior researcher at the Jeju Women & Family Research Institute, said, "We need to build a one-stop integrated online platform service that can handle everything from initial counseling to psychological treatment, legal support, and housing support. There is also a need for clear fact-finding surveys, prevention education, and the strengthening of legal systems for perpetrator punishment and recidivism prevention."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.