Posters on deepfake prevention are displayed outside the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center at the Korean Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea in Seoul. Nov. 6, 2024 [Yonhap]
Posters on deepfake prevention are displayed outside the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center at the Korean Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea in Seoul. Nov. 6, 2024 [Yonhap]

Workers at digital sex crime victim support centers across the country are convening for a joint training event.

The gathering aims to expand exchanges between national and regional centers to ensure professional victim support is available everywhere in the country. It will also run burnout-prevention programs to ease the psychological burden on workers who monitor harmful videos and counsel victims.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korean Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea announced Wednesday that they will hold the "2026 National Digital Sex Crime Support Center Joint Training" in two sessions running from Wednesday through Sept. 4.

More than 100 workers from digital sex crime victim support centers nationwide will take part. The training focuses on sharing victim support cases and collaborative experiences accumulated in the field, and on strengthening the foundation for swift, professional support anywhere in the country through closer cooperation between the central and regional centers.

Both sessions will be held in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.

The program will open with a keynote lecture designed to deepen participants' understanding of policies for responding to digital sex crimes.

Organizers will share the operational status, key achievements and future direction of the "Digital Sex Crime Victim Integrated Support Team," a pan-government task force the Korea Communications Commission and the Korean National Police Agency launched in May to coordinate the national response to digital sex crimes.

Detailed information on victim referral standards between related agencies and free legal aid will also be shared, with the aim of raising the professionalism and consistency of victim support across centers.

Burnout-prevention programs will be offered to help ease the psychological and emotional strain workers can experience while monitoring harmful videos and counseling victims.

Additional sessions include a workshop for sharing digital sex crime victim support cases and a nationwide practitioners' meeting of digital sex crime support center staff.

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Won Min-kyung said the ministry would "actively work to ensure that victims of digital sex crimes can receive swift and professional support wherever they are in the country," adding that "close cooperation among the central and regional support centers and related agencies is above all essential" to achieving that goal.


kido@heraldcorp.com