South Korea is to bring in legislation to protect actresses after a survey by The National Human Rights Commission found that 60 percent of them said they had been pressured to have sex to further their careers.
The survey was conducted last year of 111 actresses and 240 aspiring actresses. 22 percent said they were “forced or requested” by their agents to provide sexual favours; more than six percent said they were sexually assaulted; 45 percent were forced to drink with influential figures; while 32 percent said they had experienced unwanted physical contact or sexual harassment.
In a separate survey last year, 19 percent said they were either forced to have sex with influential figures or witnessed their colleagues being coerced to do so; and 62 percent said they faced disadvantages for refusing such demands.
The forced-sex-for-career issue has been a hot topic since the death of actress Jang Ja-yun, who committed suicide in March 2009, while leaving hint that she might have been sexually abused by prominent figures in entertainment industry.
What makes me wonder though, is why seeking a new law to protect the actresses when the fundamental law is applicable. Isn’t it illegal at the first place to force people into unwilling physical contact, regardless of gender or profession? A law is useless if it’s not enforced properly; a new law won’t help much anyway.
And it’s not just the law; social education should also be emphasised imo, and that’s another long story. To simply put it, have the actresses done enough to protect themselves? And how many aspiring youngsters would still be willing to enter the industry despite knowing the not-so-hidden fact about this matter.
