Nine in 10 Korean women think that women are not treated as equally as men in South Korea and most sexual discrimination takes place at home, a survey showed Thursday. 

According to a survey by woman’s rights group Womenlink on 1,257 women ranging from those in their teens to those in their 70s, 93 percent of the respondents said “No” when they were asked whether Korea was a gender-equal country. Only 2 percent said that women were treated equally and 5 percent did not respond.

The majority of those surveyed, or 23 percent, said that they had experienced sexual discrimination at home. Some 15 percent said they had felt discriminated against while driving or using public transport and 14 percent had felt that way at schools. 

A stereotype over traditional gender roles prevails in the country, with many women saying they had been asked to do housework just because they were women, according to Womenlink.

“At all places such as schools and home, they were ignored and judged by their physical appearances,” the organization said, adding it only shows the “unjust” reality of Korean society.
Gender disparity indicators have put South Korea among the bottom of rankings.

The Gender Gap Index released by World Economic Forum last year placed South Korea at 116 out of 144 countries. The country was the worst in terms of discrimination against women at work among 29 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the index disclosed by British magazine The Economist. 

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)