🎯 Reform Roadmap: What Dongguk University Must Do by September 1, 2025
Link back to the timeline at genderwatchdog.org
This campaign is not merely about raising awareness — it is about achieving structural change. As Dongguk University remains under international scrutiny for its gender imbalance, ethical opacity, and proximity to entertainment industry power dynamics that create sexual violence risks, we are now publicly outlining a set of minimum reform targets to be met by the start of the next academic term.
These goals are modest. They are achievable. And they represent only the first step in addressing years of institutional neglect regarding sexual violence prevention.
📌 1. Achieve Fair Gender Balance in Faculty Composition with Equal Power Distribution
Deadline: September 1, 2025
Dongguk's Graduate School of Digital Image and Contents currently has a significant gender imbalance with 13 male professors versus only 6 female professors, with women predominantly relegated to adjunct/visiting roles without institutional power or job security. This institutional gender disparity is evident when comparing the Korean faculty page (showing 6 female adjunct/visiting professors) with the English-language faculty page (displaying only male professors), revealing a concerning pattern of differential representation.
We call for:
- Achieving equitable gender representation through a transparent hiring process
- Promoting qualified female faculty to full-time tenured positions with equal institutional power
- Creating a faculty ethics review process to ensure all professors maintain appropriate conduct
- Implementing a clear mechanism for removing faculty members found to have engaged in misconduct
- Ensuring female faculty have equal representation in departmental leadership and decision-making bodies
These measures will help correct the systemic power imbalance that creates barriers to reporting and accountability for sexual violence.
📌 2. Reinstate or Replace the Women's Student Council
Dongguk University dismantled its Women's Student Council in 2018 — during the height of Korea's MeToo movement against sexual violence. This left students without a clear advocacy structure or institutional buffer against sexual abuse.
We call for the restoration of an independent, student-facing gender advocacy body , supported by the administration but not controlled by faculty , with clear authority to monitor policy and assist students navigating sexual violence and sexual assault concerns.
📌 3. Publish Sexual Violence Transparency Reports
Dongguk must commit to annual public reporting (in Korean and English) that includes:
- Faculty gender composition (tenured + adjunct),
- Student enrollment breakdown by gender,
- Number of sexual violence and sexual assault complaints received and processed,
- Overview of outcomes (fully anonymized).
Transparency is not optional — it is a precondition for trust and essential for sexual violence prevention.
📌 4. Introduce English-Language Film Curriculum
Despite positioning itself as a global-facing film program, Dongguk offers no English-language coursework — a structural disadvantage for students entering the international film circuit.
We call for the introduction of at least one core English-language module per academic year, starting Fall 2025, to support participation in global festivals, co-productions, and grant applications, while ensuring these courses incorporate strong sexual violence prevention protocols.
📌 5. Clarify Physical and Professional Boundaries with Sidus FNH
Sidus FNH, a major Korean entertainment firm, shares a building with Dongguk's graduate film school — without clear boundary protections for students against sexual violence and exploitation.
Dongguk must:
- Publicly declare the nature of this co-location,
- Implement a visitor registry and code of conduct explicitly prohibiting sexual violence for all external industry personnel,
- Post signage defining non-student access zones and create a transparent channel for reporting boundary violations and sexual misconduct.
📌 6. Update and Publish Sexual Violence Reporting Policies
Current reporting systems for sexual violence are unclear and poorly communicated. We demand:
- A multilingual policy document detailing how to file a sexual violence or sexual assault complaint,
- The role and gender of those receiving complaints of sexual violence,
- Response timelines and student protections during sexual violence investigation,
- Availability of anonymous reporting channels for sexual abuse.
📌 7. Issue a Public Acknowledgement of Sexual Violence Prevention Gaps
This campaign does not seek apologies. We seek clarity.
Dongguk can rebuild trust by publicly acknowledging that past structures may have limited sexual violence prevention and student safety , and that steps are being taken to rectify this dangerous imbalance. Even a one-paragraph statement of institutional awareness can break the silence and initiate healing for survivors of sexual violence.
📌 8. Establish Mandatory Intimacy Coordination for Film Production Classes
Deadline: September 1, 2025
Film education frequently involves simulating intimate or physically intense scenes, creating situations where sexual violence risks are heightened without proper protocols.
Dongguk must:
- Hire certified intimacy coordinators for all courses involving physical contact between students or between faculty and students
- Implement clear consent protocols for scenes involving simulated violence, intimacy, or physical vulnerability
- Create detailed written procedures for rehearsing and filming scenes with sexual content or physical aggression
- Establish mandatory boundaries training for all faculty teaching performance or production classes
- Provide alternative assignments for students uncomfortable with physical contact scenarios
The absence of these protections creates unacceptable sexual violence risks in an educational environment already lacking gender balance.
🧭 Institutions Must Choose: Reform or Relevance
These reforms are not radical. They are standard — already implemented in universities around the world committed to preventing sexual violence.
The time for quiet meetings and internal memos is over.
The time for institutional courage in confronting sexual violence has arrived.