Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Korean Court Says Survivor Lost Her Dignity

A Korean court has ruled that the heirs of the late actress Choi Jin-sil must compensate an advertiser since she failed to maintain her dignity as a model when pictures of her after a beating by her then-husband Cho Sung-min were publicized in media. A construction company sued Choi in 2004 for W3 billion (US$1=W1,250) for damages incurred and the modeling fee paid.

The company paid Choi W250 million in March 2004 for modeling for apartment buildings. The contract included a clause that if Choi disgraced the image of the company by damaging her social and moral image through her own fault, she would repay the firm twice the modeling fee. Five months later, pictures of her beaten and of the inside of her house in a chaotic state were released.

This takes victim blaming to a sick and institutionalized new level. In its ruling, the court found that Choi disgraced the image of the company by damaging her image through her own fault. Because the court felt that the abuse was her fault, the late actress's children are being held financially responsible for returning the funds from the contracts and paying the penalties.

h/t to Feministing.

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