NET WIDENS IN CRACKDOWN ON “SECRET” PORNOGRAPHY IN SOUTH KOREA

In a span of 24 hours, two high-profile cases broke in South Korea regarding pornography distribution without the subject’s consent. On March 20, two men were arrested on charges of secretly recording 1,600 motel guests through the use of hidden cameras placed in 30 different motels around 10 cities. These two men created a website that allowed users to access 30-second videos for free, or livestream from the rooms for a small fee. They made 7 million won ($6,200) from this illegal enterprise. The cameras were hidden in power outlets, hair dryer holders, and other inconspicuous places.

K-Pop star Jung Joon-Young was arrested on March 21 in connection to an online group chat which non-consensually shared sexually explicit videos of women. The case, which implicates several other Korean celebrities, could result in jail sentences of up to five years for the accused men or fines of up to 30 million won ($26,424 USD) if they are found guilty.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of the Republic of Korea, around 6,800 cases of illicit filming were reported in 2018, though fewer than one in ten trials resulted in prison sentences.

These spycam videos, also known as molka videos, sparked a wave of protests in South Korea in 2018, with tens of thousands of women gathering to express their outrage at the secret recording that remains rampant throughout the country.

Molka videos are illegal under South Korean law, as is the wider creation and distribution of pornography. Some experts attribute the proliferation of the molka videos to the pornography ban, which they claim forces men to seek out other means of accessing explicit materials. Others point to a continued legacy of sexism and double standards in the country, which has been accused of having the largest gender pay gap of any developed country.

In 2018, Seoul pledged 8,000 municipal workers to checking restrooms around the city for hidden cameras to protect the citizens, responding to national criticism over what has been called an “epidemic” of privacy invasion.

POLISH LEADER RILES ANTI-LGBT SENTIMENT

Approaching May’s European Parliament elections, right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski campaigned against LGBT+ causes on March 16. This comes after officials in opposition-held Warsaw introduced new education reforms designed to teach students about discrimination, sexual orientation, and reproductive health as per the standards of the World Health Organization. Polish law currently forbids same-sex marriage, and same-sex partners have no legal recognition.

"This is not about tolerance. This is about the affirmation of same-sex unions, about their marriage, and their right to adopt children," Kaczynski said at a convention in Katowice. "We want to say it clearly. We are saying 'No!,' especially when it concerns children. Stay away from our children!" PiS supports conservative values and promotes traditional family structures through generous bonuses to families with two parents and multiple children. PiS has been the majority party since 2015. In Poland, where 90 percent of the population identifies as Catholic, Kaczynski continues to rely on the rhetoric of LGBT+ rights threatening the nuclear family structure to garner more conservative electoral support after polls have predicted a close election.

DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTS FACES RECKONING MOMENTS

Just months before the kickoff of the Women’s World Cup in France, the U.S. Women’s Soccer team filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination on March 8. The complaint claims that U.S. Soccer “has a policy and practice of discriminating” against the players on the women’s team, paying them lower wages than their male counterparts. This lawsuit, which has 28 players standing as plaintiffs, is the second complaint of this nature that has been filed against U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination; the first such complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by four players in 2016, though the case never progressed. In February, the four original plaintiffs were given the right to sue by the EEOC. The complaint citesevidence that includes a comparison of the Women’s team’s bonuses after winning the FIFA World Cup versus the Men’s team’s significantly larger bonuses for simply earning a spot.

Unconnected to this lawsuit, the UN adopted a resolution on March 22 to end discrimination against women in sporting events. The resolution urges ensuring that women, particularly those with atypical intersex traits or variations, are not pressured to undergo dangerous “normalizing” medical procedures in order to alter their naturally occurring testosterone levels. Previous regulations, the Eligibility Regulators for the Female Classification (Athlete with Differences of Sexual Development), require hormone therapy in order for athletes to qualify for the female category. This resolution represents one of the first rulings on the rights of intersex people.

THIS WEEK IN BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING

Dr. Karen Uhlenbeck, emeritus professor at the University of Texas at Austin was awarded the Abel Prize for Mathematics on March 19 for the “fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics.” Dr. Uhlenbeck is the first woman to ever receive this top math prize. The Abel Prize is modeled after the Nobel Prize, as there is no Nobel Prize in mathematics.