The Dark Side of Holidays... Unending Domestic Violence

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Although Chuseok is a traditional holiday when families and relatives reunite after a long time, domestic violence tends to increase more than usual. Especially this Chuseok, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), outings have decreased and time spent at home has increased, raising concerns about conflicts or domestic violence among family members, requiring caution.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to Rep. Jeong Chun-sook of the Democratic Party on the 1st, the number of domestic counseling cases during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods from 2017 to 2019 showed an increase rate of 5.4% to 34%.

During Chuseok holidays, there was a 34% increase in 2017, 32% in 2018, and 7% in 2019, while during Lunar New Year holidays, domestic violence counseling increased by 9.5% in 2017, 5.4% in 2018, and 16.2% in 2019.

It appears that latent conflict factors such as excessive drinking during the holidays or issues related to parental support exploded, causing domestic violence to occur frequently. In fact, during the 2018 Chuseok holiday in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, a man in his 50s, intoxicated, got into an argument with his son (31) and struck his son's head once with a blunt weapon and stabbed his left abdomen once with a sharp weapon. This man also struck his wife (60), who tried to stop the assault, with the blunt weapon.

Conflicts and domestic violence occurring during holidays also lead to an increase in divorces. According to the 'Divorce Statistics for the Last 5 Years' by the Court Administration Office and Statistics Korea, the number of divorces in February to March and October to November, immediately after the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, was on average 11.5% higher than the previous month.

Professor Lee Geon-su of the Department of Police Science at Baekseok University said, "Domestic violence is a serious issue in our society and is one of the crimes that occur most frequently during holiday periods," adding, "It is necessary to recognize violence occurring within families as a serious crime and to adopt an attitude of mutual consideration."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.