More Korean women suffer from male foreigners’ ‘catcalls’: report

(Yonhap)

A news report has highlighted that more foreign men were found to have catcalled local women in the streets.Hankyoreh, a South Korean daily newspaper, reported Thursday that an increasing number of foreign men are catcalling in expat-friendly neighborhoods, such as Itaewon, Seoul. Catcalls are widely regarded as sexual harassment, consisting of unwanted comments and whistles from strangers, despite little legal sanctions on offenders domestically.According to the report, many local women recall experiences of being catcalled in places like Itaewon by groups of foreign men, on social media. Some even testify that they were followed by the men, being threatened.The report said, under current legislation, catcallers cannot be criminally punished for the action. Also, the victims hesitate to call the police, thinking that “it is disturbing, but not enough to file a charge.”By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)