Report filings increase nearly 10%, confirmed cases increase 4%
Reports of abuse against people with disabilities in Korea reached 6,608 in 2025, up 9.6 percent from the previous year, according to government data released Friday.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s 2025 report on abuse against people with disabilities showed that 3,375 reports, just over half the total, were classified as suspected abuse. The number of confirmed abuse cases reached 1,505, up about 4 percent from the previous year.
Among reports classified as suspected abuse, just over a quarter came from people with reporting obligations, an increase of 12.3 percent from the previous year.
Reporting obligations fall to professionals such as social welfare facility workers, medical personnel and teachers, who are legally required to report abuse identified through their work.
Reports from nonmandatory reporters accounted for 73.5 percent of all suspected abuse reports.
This figure includes reports filed by victims themselves, which rose particularly sharply, increasing 31.7 percent to 806. Among people with intellectual disabilities, the number reporting their own abuse climbed 53.1 percent to 493.
The ministry said the high proportion of reports from nonmandatory reporters and the substantial increase in victims reporting abuse themselves underscored the need for continued education, public awareness efforts and more accessible reporting channels.
People with developmental disabilities were victims in 1,147 confirmed cases, accounting for 76.2 percent of the total. These included 1,055 cases involving people with intellectual disabilities and 92 involving people with autism.
Victims’ homes were the most common location of abuse, accounting for 47.6 percent of cases, followed by welfare facilities for people with disabilities at 12.8 percent and perpetrators’ homes at 6.4 percent.
Men accounted for 70.7 percent of perpetrators. In terms of relationship to the victims, family members and relatives accounted for 38.5 percent, followed by other individuals at 38.1 percent, institutional staff with a mandatory reporting obligation at 19.3 percent and staff at related institutions without such an obligation at 3.6 percent.
By type, physical abuse accounted for 668 instances, or 34.4 percent, followed by emotional abuse at 521, or 26.8 percent, and financial exploitation at 394, or 20.3 percent.
The ministry said it would continue improving institutional measures and response systems as abuse reports, demand for victim support and cases of repeated abuse continue to rise.
shwang9@heraldcorp.com
