韓國認定性騷擾爲“工傷”可獲賠

A South Korean woman who suffered repeated sexual harassment

at work will be awarded compensation, the state workers' welfare agency said in a landmark ruling which acknowledged her suffering amounted to a work-related injury。

Saturday's judgment marked the first time that suffering caused by sexual harassment has been classed as a workplace injury, and many other victims are now likely to file similar appeals with the agency, the Yonhap news Service reported。

According to the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, the woman, whose name was withheld for reasons of privacy, had suffered from unwelcome sexual advances from two men at her company since 2009.

The woman, who worked at an autoparts maker in the southwestern city of Asan for the past 14 years, was repeatedly groped, and also received lewd text messages。

A medical document said she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, experiencing intrusive recollections of the harassment, showed exaggerated startle response and suffered from a sleep disorder。

The National Human Rights Commission earlier recommended that the two male officials should pay a total of nine million won (US$7,725) in compensation。

The victim will be paid for her medical expenses and receive other financial compensation, the welfare agency said。韓國職工補償和福利服務機構近日決定，將賠償一名在工作期間頻遭性騷擾的韓國女職員，這個標誌性的裁決認定她的遭遇相當於受“工傷”。

據韓聯社報道，上週六的判決首次把因遭遇性騷擾引起的身心傷害納入工傷範疇。不少有類似遭遇的韓國女性可能會向這一機構提出類似申訴。

出於保護隱私考慮，韓國職工補償和福利服務機構沒有公開這名女子的姓名。2009年以來她一直遭受公司兩名男性的令人厭惡的性騷擾。

這名女子爲韓國西南部牙山市的一家汽車零件承包商供職14年，這期間她屢次被摸，並收到猥褻手機短信。

醫學診斷顯示，由於性騷擾的回憶重複侵入腦海，受害人患上創傷後應激障礙，表現爲反應過激，並出現失眠症狀。

韓國全國人權委員會先前要求實施性騷擾的兩名男性管理人員賠償這名女子共計900萬韓元(約合7725美元)。

這家福利機構稱將承擔受害者的醫療費用並給予其他經濟補償。