(ATR) The South Korean government says it will respond to a wave of complaints from Olympic athletes about sexual abuse they have suffered from coaches and colleagues.
Short track speedskater Suk Hee Shim launched the growing scandal earlier this month with accusations that a coach raped and harassed her repeatedly beginning in 2014 when she was in high school.
Shim says she did not complain about the attacks while preparing for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. She said she was fearful coach Jae Bum Cho would remove her from the team if she went public with her charges.
This week five unnamed speedskaters leveled accusations against former national team coach Myung Kyu Jun.
The women are members of a group named Solidarity for Young Skaters that made the charges public at a press conference in the parliament.
Tuesday the National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced that a special unit to investigate human rights violations and sexual assault in sports will be formed.
The commission is also making plans for the most extensive ever survey of athletes about their experiences.
"Violence has been justified in the training process here to win a medal and sexual violence came from there," said Young Ae Choi at a press conference.
"Victims cannot fight back against such crimes and the closed structure of the sports sector discourages victims from revealing their situations," she said.
She says that in the next year the special unit will question athletes in all age groups in 50 events. She says particular attention will be paid to sports in which sexual assault allegations have emerged, such as skating and judo.
A new reporting center will be created to receive reports of abuse and sexual assaults, offer legal aid and press law enforcement to investigate.
Young athletes at schools will receive education on sexual violence so they can reportsuch crimes when they become targeted.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family are also involved in the response.
Choi says the measures being proposed are similar to steps taken 10 years ago.
"If the guidelines were carried out properly, the current gloomy situation would not have occurred. Not only the government and the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee, which have been negligent in carrying them out, but also the commission, which did not properly monitor the progress, are responsible," Choi said.
"Our new initiatives are not very different from what we came up with 10 years ago. But I believe it is important to end this horrible practice in the sporting world. We have witnessed changes recently where victims are coming out to reveal the abuse they've suffered. This is important," said Choi.
Under pressure to resign is Ki Hong Lee, chairman of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee.
"Punish everyone in the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee cartel that forced silence on victims, aiding and abetting misconduct," is the demand from the liberal Party for Democracy and Peace, a minor party in the parliament.
Canadian Bobsledder Blames Abuse
Olympic medalist Kaillie Humphries, who is not competing in this year’s bobsleigh world cup series, says she has filed a harassment complaint with Canadian officials.
Humphries tells CBC she "can no longer be silenced because of other people's actions". She did not elaborate the specifics of the harassment she says she endured.
"I found myself in a position where my workplace environment was impaired and I couldn't compete,'' Humphries told CBC.
Bobsleigh Canada says the NGB is aware of the allegations which will force the creation of an independent inquiry.
Humphries, 33, has won four World Cup titles in the past six seasons. She was the Olympic gold medalist in 2010 and 2014. In 2018 she finished third at the PyeongChang Olympics.
Reported by Ed Hula.
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