South Korean family courts can order domestic-violence offenders into counselling delegation, the country's most-used protective disposition under Article 40. A 2008 study of 65 agencies found a 43% dropout rate before completion.
43.2 %
Dropout rate before completion (65 agencies, 280 perpetrators) (2008 study)
6,376 of 13,074
Cases disposed to counselling delegation (2023)
Details
Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (renamed Ministry of Gender Equality, Oct 2025)
Period
1990s–present
Keywords
justice, domestic violence, counselling, family courts
Context
Under Article 40 of South Korea's domestic-violence law, family court judges may order perpetrators into delegated counselling at an accredited centre, standards for which are set by the gender-equality ministry.
Activities
In 2023, roughly half of all disposed domestic-violence cases nationally resulted in the counselling-delegation disposition, the system's single most-used protective sanction.
Results
A 2008 peer-reviewed study spanning 65 agencies and 280 perpetrators found a 43.2% dropout rate before completion, linked to unemployment, referral pathway and gender-role attitudes.
Conclusions
No public, programme-wide recidivism dataset was found, and a 2024 newspaper investigation criticised the system's overall leniency and underuse of more intensive measures.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
accredited domestic-violence counselling centres, family court judges
Conditions for success
accreditation and funding by the gender-equality ministry
Common failure modes
43% dropout before completion
no public programme-wide recidivism dataset
Commonly funded by
National / regional programmes
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
Do you run this practice?
Claim it —
verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
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