The week of September 9 marked the start of KAIST’s fourth annual “Human Rights Week”. Organized by the KAIST Center for Ethics and Human Rights (CEHR), the week aimed to engage KAIST students and to increase the student body’s awareness of human rights and human rights related issues. Students were able to freely attend events that ranged from academic to exciting. There were lectures hosted by professors and industry professionals, and outdoor movies, art classes and dance recitals all focused around the theme of “gender equality”. The various events can be seen in the event’s poster (below).
The September 11 lecture “Hidden cameras and digital sexual violence” by the Secretary of Korea’s Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center was a fascinating speech and a poignant reminder of the work that needs to be done to combat what the BBC refers to as “South Korea’s spy cam porn epidemic”. The “gender equality” theme feels particularly relevant for KAIST in the wake of the evidence found in the 2017 results from the Graduate Student Association’s annual survey. The survey found that 75.7% of graduating students chose to remain silent about sexual harassment related issues if they had experienced them.
The CEHR follows a “two-pillared agenda”, focusing on strategies that prioritize “prevention” and “discipline” when combating human rights abuses on campus. During our interview, Joohyun Lee, the deputy director of CEHR, stressed the importance of “human rights weeks” as a core part of the CEHR’s “preventative strategy”. So, it is unsurprising that this year’s theme was so pertinent. Previous years have had similarly relevant topics, with the 2017 focus being LGBTQI+ issues and 2016 focusing on ways to combat racism and discrimination.
“Human Rights Week”s are held every year in the fall semester and it is strongly encouraged that all KAIST students try to attend events in the future. The events serve as a great way to learn more about the multitude of human rights issues potentially faced by students, and the week provides a chance to meet people and network with those involved in campaigns across the campus.
Author’s note:
For an article discussing the role of human rights campaigns on campus, it would be negligent to not mention the possible avenues for reporting human rights abuses. If you or your friends wish to report problems relating to sexual harassment, sexual violence or a human rights violation the CEHR is available for contact via phone (042-350-1004), email (humanrights@kaist.ac.kr) or in person (Main Campus Educational Support Building (W8) 1st Floor Room 1115). You may receive counseling before officially reporting an offence and you may nominate a representative to receive advice on your behalf. If you decide not to report the situation, the CEHR can order an apology or compensation, and provide psychological counseling.