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group of expats, some of whom have been victims of street harassment, are preparing to launch an awareness campaign during the Hae Bang Chon Festival (H.B.C. Fest), which will run for four days starting this Thursday, May 21.

Alicia Trawick, leader of the People Unite against Street Harassment (PUSH), says she decided to take part in the campaign because the police and law enforcement agencies do not take the issue seriously enough.

“They don’t do enough to prevent and solve the problem,” she said, noting that authorities do not take complaints of street harassment seriously enough despite the fact that a growing number of women are reporting instances of harassment in Haebangchon.

Early this year, a female expat was stalked by a drunken man from Noksapyeong Station to Haebangchon.

She asked police officers, who were patrolling, for assistance but they did not take any action against the stalker.

“The useless cop just giggled at me and kept repeating ‘English no,’ even though the drunk Korean was nearby,” she said, asking for anonymity.

“The cop didn’t care to listen or look at the man I was pointing at.”

Ashley Pifer, who had been stalked by a man near Noksapyeong subway Station, found it very frustrating when she tried to file a police report after being harassed and stalked by another man in Haebangchon.

“Basically the whole time, they (the police officers) were trying to persuade my boyfriend not to file a report. They were saying it will be impossible to find the perpetrator even though I told him a similar guy had been reported by multiple girls,” she said.

“I was reporting it because so many other people had said that a similar guy was doing that.”

Robert Kienzle has been very active in helping PUSH because his girlfriend was a victim of harassment in Haebangchon last year.

“The campaign has already started. We already had more than about 20 people come together who are more than willing to help,” he said.

“We hope our activities, our materials and research will help anybody. It doesn’t matter where they are, whether it is in Korea and for Korean. Nobody deserves to be followed, touched or thrown down on the ground.”

PUSH has launched a fundraising campaign to purchase flyers, stickers, and posters to be used during the HBC Fest. The following is the link to their fundraising campaign, http://www.gofundme.com/PUSHKorea

Some of the victims of harassment agreed to share their experiences.

Lauren

“I was walking home to Haebangchon from Itaewon at about 3am on a Sunday morning, and I used the underpass to cross over. I passed a tall, hooded Korean man, and did not consider him a threat at all. But as I neared the end of the tunnel, I heard somebody running behind me. Still, I was not concerned…I just assumed it was somebody who really needed to get somewhere. All of the sudden, somebody grabbed my shirt and whipped me around, very quickly grabbing my boobs and then my vagina, and then throwing me to the ground where I split my lip on the stairs. It was all so quick that I did not have the chance to defend myself. The next day, I contacted the police with the help of a Korean friend. They seemed hesitant to even pay me a visit, but two officers did visit my home the next day. They told me that they couldn’t do anything due to the lack of CCTV. I asked if I could still file a report, just to make it known that this kind of thing happens, with the hope that they would install CCTV. They strongly recommended against it….saying that it would take way too much time, and would only put me into further distress. I still considered filing a report, but in the end I decided not to. I regret it. I believe that the man who attacked me has done it before….and hunts similar areas looking for the opportunity. I believe this because of the clothes he was wearing and the way with which he carried it out. I think that this kind of assault may go unreported often due to the way the police advise against it.”

Alicia Trawick

“We should be cautious to not make a false accusation. But if someone is following me and intentionally making me or another person feel uncomfortable, they lose their right to ‘defamation’ and I will be sure to fully defend my right as a potential victim. Interesting that defamation is so serious here but they make stalking so ‘affordable.’”

An expat who wants to remain anonymous

“I’d prefer not to have my name mentioned. Briefly, here’s the story. I was walking home from Itaewon and was near Noksapyeong, when I realized a man was walking quickly up behind me and reaching out towards me. I jumped back, put out both hands, and said loudly ‘don’t touch me’ and he responded aggressively, and with verbal abuse when I repeated ‘don’t touch me’ and ‘leave me alone.’ I slowed, he continued walking as a passerby intervened to check if I was ok. The passerby and I realized that the man was waiting for me further down the street, so I got into a cab and got home safely. I did not report this situation to the police, as no physical contact occurred and I wouldn’t have expected anything to be done anyway. I hope you can shed some light on this problem.”

Victoria

“I was attacked in Osan 5 years ago- sexually assaulted by a Korean guy who dragged me down a laneway off the street (stranger) the police were very aggressive about the whole thing and blamed me after which the main detective started behaving extremely inappropriate towards me, saying really weird sexual things etc. This whole incident caused me to leave Korea. I have recently returned and want to warn other women to be careful out there!!!”