성폭력범죄에 대한 친고죄 규정의 비판적 고찰 — 친고죄 폐지론에 붙여 —

Sexual violence has been removed from the category of “offenses subject to complaint.” In principle, crime punishment rights are solely possessed by the state. Therefore, the state not only has the right to call for crime punishment but also has the rights and responsibility for criminal prosecution. For that reason, the state makes direct use of its right of criminal prosecution regardless of the victims’ intention. Exempt from this principle of state prosecution are “offenses subject to complaint.” The purpose of such complaint is to protect minor injuries and the honor and privacy of victims. The problem with such offenses, however, is the discord with sexual crimes. Many of those who advocate the elimination of such offenses – feminists, the academia and the judiciary – base their arguments on the problems relating to sexual crimes, but it is questionable whether such arguments can be supported by a clear understanding of the essential nature of sexual crimes as well as a distinction between the issues of offenses subject to complaint and negative side effects of such offenses relating to sexual crimes. The focus of discussion should be how the victims’ privacy and honor can be protected, not whether the system of offenses subject to complaint should be maintained or abolished. In order to do so, we need to change the distorted sex culture, improve the current gender structure and build a victim-centered system.