Stalking, dating violence on rise: data

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) — Stalking and dating violence have steadily increased over the past few years, yet the number of police officers in charge of such crimes has remained unchanged, police data showed Wednesday.

According to the National Police Agency data submitted to Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party, 3,621 cases of stalking crimes were reported in 2021, sharply up from 897 in 2018, 1,938 in 2019 and 1,444 in 2020.

Noticeably, 4,992 stalking crimes were reported until August of this year alone, the data showed.

Also, 10,266 assault cases committed by dates were reported in Seoul last year, sharply up from 3,173 cases reported in 2018, the data showed.

In contrast, 710 officers were deployed to the women and youth division in 31 police departments in Seoul as of September of this year, compared with 666 officers in 2021 and 722 in 2020, the data showed.

Rep. Yong said one police officer is in charge of investigating approximately seven stalking crimes and 13.8 date assault cases on average.