Jang Hye-young “I was shocked, there is no such thing as a victim” [전문]

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Dear citizens, and members of the party. This is Jang Hye-young, a member of the Justice Party’s National Assembly.

A while ago, the Justice Party leadership filed a lawsuit with the Central Party Committee, a disciplinary procedure, for sexual harassment committed by Justice Party leader Kim Jong-cheol, based on the principle of zero tolerance for sexual violence. The perpetrator admitted and apologized for all abuses and accepted all political responsibility. And today, in this article, I am the victim of this incident.

The shock and pain of undermining my dignity as an equal human being from the representative of our party, a political comrade who had been crying out to eradicate gender violence together and deeply trusted, was truly great. Also, in the process of raising issues to restore my damaged human dignity, I had to face many other fears and anxieties.

Nevertheless, I decided to raise the issue and hold public responsibility because I believed that this was the way to restore my dignity as a human being and return to my daily life, for the Justice Party and our society, which I am deeply in love with. because of. In addition, even if the perpetrator was the party representative, or rather, because he was the party representative, there was a belief that the Justice Party would handle the case with a determined attitude of zero tolerance.

I am a member of the 21st National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. My daily life is at the forefront of politics. It is my political calling to stand firmly against sexual violence and shout out gender equality.

Politics is about communicating values ​​with citizens in the light of one’s sincere experiences. I am really afraid of the unfair secondary abuse that will come to me by disclosing the facts of the damage. But what is scarier than that is losing myself. If I forever hide the victims by separating myself as a victim from me as a member of the National Assembly and protecting the victims, I would be confined to this case forever. That’s why I want to talk about my suffering and be truly free from this problem. So, I want to return to my daily life of politics.

There are some things I have learned deeply through this incident. Things I thought I already knew, but I want to tell you what I learned deeply again.

Most importantly,’victimity’ never exists. Any woman can be a victim of sexual violence. The fact that I am an incumbent lawmaker never meant that I could be a victim. Anyone can be a victim of sexual violence, as long as perpetrators of sexual violence are everywhere.

And the victim can exist in any form. From the time of the incident to the present, I have tried my best to behave like a’someone who has nothing to do’. No matter how painful it was, I digested the schedule, attended debates, and presided over meetings. People didn’t notice my damage. There is no fixed appearance of the victim. There are just a lot of’damages’. The victim can be any woman who is ordinary by your side.

There is no such thing as a’victim’ in how to recover from daily life. Thousands of victims recover their lives in their own way. Some recover their routine by revealing themselves, and others not revealing themselves. In all this process, no victimization should be forced.

There are equally important facts. It is that there is no’perpetrator’. There is no specific person who commits sexual violence. But what we do know is that 98% of the current sex crimes are committed by men and 93% of the victims are women. Anyone who fails to treat fellow citizens with equal dignity can become a perpetrator of sexual violence. There are no exceptions, no matter how wonderfully he has lived before or who has been respected by many.

This is the question before us living in the world after Me Too.

Why do even countless men who live such a plausible life so miserably fail to treat the woman in front of her as being equally dignified as themselves? How can men who commit sexual violence learn that women deserve equal respect with themselves? We must face this question. And you must find the answer.

Lastly, I would like to say that the victim needs a procedure for acknowledging the facts of the perpetrator, sincere apology, and taking responsibility in order to return to their daily lives. If the perpetrators themselves refuse to do this, the society must be proactive and make it happen.

However, many of the perpetrators known to us so far seriously undermine the dignity of the victim and repent of their mistakes, rather than helping them recover, but rather quarreling with the victim over the facts, or rushing to take care of their own comfort only after the truth is revealed. Instead of apologizing for his wrongdoing, he escaped to death and pushed the victim into greater pain.

In my case, the appearance of the perpetrator was a little different. The perpetrator did not respect me as an equal human being in the process of damaging me, but in the process of restoring my dignity and returning to my daily life, I admitted and apologized for my mistakes and did my best to respect me as a human being. This allowed me to focus on recovering rather than getting angry.

Every human being has a moral ability to face and take responsibility for his own faults. Responsible attitude is the most important measure of humanity. After committing a wrongdoing, admitting one’s fault and taking positive responsibility should be the basic attitude that all perpetrators should have in the future. However, if the perpetrators go on a path that harms others and their own dignity until the end, the laws and institutions of our society will never tolerate such violence that destroys the community.

From my youth to this day, I have lived as a woman in Korean society and have suffered numerous sexual violence. However, I did not properly raise the issue each time. I didn’t think I could raise an issue, and I didn’t think it would be acceptable to raise an issue.

“Only you are hurt.”

I was tired of hearing those words that shut many victims. However, it is because of the presence of women who have courageously talked about the facts of my damage right now. Because I still have faith in my fellow citizens who are fighting at the forefront of dignity. We sincerely thank everyone for taking the courage and taking steps toward justice. And I will fight with you until the end. I will not hesitate to speak up and confront any violence. We will break the bridle of sexual violence that has been persistently continued, and the next person will be able to face a better future.

Even at this moment, countless victims are still struggling to restore their dignity. We sincerely convey our heart of solidarity to all victims. We will surely return to our daily routine together. I sincerely ask all citizens and members of the party. Please stay with all the victims on the way back to their daily lives. Even in order to preserve our own dignity, please join us on the path of protecting the damaged dignity of our fellow citizens.

Thank you.

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