The body as the space in which power operates: Sexual violence of clergymen in the Korean church

Abstract

The Korean version of the #MeToo movement has greatly influenced Korean society, and the new social awareness of sexual assault became a hot topic in the field of religion, especially in Korean Christianity. Various hidden cases have been publicized, and victims have begun to raise their once-muted voices. One noticeable factor in sexual harassment in Korean Christianity is the imbalance of power between offenders and victims. The abusers are mostly male pastors who hold absolute authority in their congregation and use this power to force victims to hide the truth. This article presents three main causes that lead to sexual harassment and sexual abuse in Korean churches—the absolute authority of pastors in Korean congregations, the coerced silence of the victims, and the sexual grooming caused by the imbalance of power between the abuser and victim—along with reasons why we stand with the victims.