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

[Anchor]

Police provide smartwatches to victims of relationship-based crimes, including domestic violence. When a victim presses a button, an emergency report is filed and their location is transmitted, allowing police to be dispatched. Electronic tracking devices managed by the Ministry of Justice, commonly known as electronic anklets, serve to monitor whether offenders enter restricted areas such as victims' residences. Previously, electronic anklets could be attached for sexual assault or murder crimes, and starting the year before last, pre-trial electronic monitoring also became available for stalking offenders. Now, going a step further, plans are being pursued to attach electronic anklets to domestic violence offenders as well.

Here is a report by 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.

The wife of Mr. A had reported her husband 8 times for domestic violence and other issues starting last April, and she even had a court restraining order in place against him.

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 occurred while the perpetrators were under restraining orders issued for domestic violence charges.

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

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

The revision of laws to attach location-tracking electronic devices, so-called electronic anklets, to domestic violence offenders is also under review.

While stalking offenders can have electronic devices attached by court decision, domestic violence offenders previously lacked a legal basis for this.

However, points are being raised that fundamental measures are needed to prevent offenders from approaching victims not only through monitoring access to victims' homes or workplaces via electronic anklets, but also in other locations.

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

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

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

(Video by So Ji-hye, Design by Cho Soo-in and Lee Jae-jun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.