Crime victims form support group to help other victims, campaign for change

A number of victims of violent crime across the country have formed a support group to help other victims struggling with similar experiences.

The group, provisionally named “Crime Victims’ Solidarity,” was launched in August, local media outlets reported Sunday. Founding members of the organization include the bereaved sibling of a victim of stalking and murder in Incheon, a woman who had been abused by her former boyfriend, and another woman who was assaulted by a man in Busan.

As of now, there are 126 members in the group, including the victims of violent crimes, their families and citizens who wish to support their cause.

The initial goal of the group is to provide support for crime victims while campaigning for revisions in the law.

The group stressed that limitations of the current crime investigation system mean that victims often have to contribute to the evidence finding process. In the case of the woman who was assaulted in Busan, she acquired surveillance footage of the crime scene and extracted the attacker’s DNA from her own pants.

Her efforts helped add attempted rape charges to her attacker, whose sentence was raised from 12 years in prison in an initial lower court ruling to 20 years by the Supreme Court. This, the victim said, “extended my life from 12 years to 20.”

Other issues include a lack of guidance for victims of violent crimes and insufficient updates on the progress of the investigation or trial on behalf of the authorities.

The group's first goal is to create a step-by-step manual for those victimized by violent crimes, as they said the manual provided by the government did not provide adequate information. The manual will include information on recording specific details of the crime and acquiring evidence as quickly as possible -- since most surveillance footage is deleted within a few weeks.

The manual will also contain advice from victims of violent crimes who experienced the harrowing investigative and legal process. For example, it is possible for victims to write their statement anonymously to hide their personal information, and that it is useful to carry a police-issued statement when requesting the CCTV footage.

In the long run, the group plans to call for more comprehensive rights of victims, including their right to participate in the investigation process, more detailed criteria on revealing information of the offender, means to prevent retaliation by the accused, and abolishing the custom of reducing an offender's sentence based on a letter of apology.

The group stressed that the pain crime victims might be suffering from is not their fault, and urged them to reach out to others with similar experiences.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)