The Human Rights Center at Chonnam National University (CNU) won silver in the 2022 Excellence in Gender Equality on Campus Award on December 12. The competition, held annually by the Central Center of University Sexual Harassment & Sexual Violence Eradication of the National Youth Policy Institute and supervised by the Ministry of Education, aims to promote gender equality and demote sexual harassment on university campuses. The center focused on raising awareness of support systems and aid regarding sexual harassment for international students and promoting understanding of human rights violations by conducting a “Safe Campus Program for International Students” from 2021 January through 2022 October. "Unlike most universities, we wanted to shine a light on our foreign students. We felt that they were being overlooked in terms of human rights assistance despite also being members of our school," said Son Se-ra who is a counselor in charge of operating the safe campus program at the center.

The program consisted of lectures and debates on sexual and domestic violence in addition to the distribution of guidebooks in more accessible languages – English and Chinese. "As the coordinator of the program, I think the students found the debates the most beneficial. It was significant in that the participants could share their thoughts freely, and get to understand cultural differences regarding the matters. Although the debate program was not open to a plethora of students, I feel that it was the most effective and meaningful for the students who took part,” said Son. "We are trying our best to be more approachable and accessible to our students. One thing I would like our students to know is that you can always reach out for help, whether that be through a visit, a call, or even an anonymous online submission," she added.

The Human Rights Center was established to contribute to the prevention and support of human rights violations of students and faculty members of CNU. It continues to consult people in need on sexual harassment, sexual violence, and human rights violations and provide specific solutions.

By Lee You-nny, Tribune Reporter