South Korea’s gender equality ministry said on 4 November it would immediately correct a youth-counselling manual that classifies homosexuality as delinquency.
The manual guides counsellors who visit young people in crisis and connect them with welfare, healthcare and education services. Published by the Korea Youth Counseling & Welfare Institute, it groups homosexuality with sexual violence, theft and drug-related problems. The ministry expressed regret for the distress caused to LGBTQ+ young people and those working with them.
It said counselling experts would advise on a wider revision of the manual. It also plans to strengthen human-rights training for staff.
The ministry pointed to a separate change made in August to guidance for youth-shelter staff, following consultation with LGBTQ+ support organisations. That guidance says shelters must not refuse admission or disadvantage young people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Those characteristics must also be kept out of decisions on admission restrictions or discharge, and the reasons for such decisions must be recorded.
For LGBTQ+ young people struggling with shelter life because of their identity, the August guidance asks staff to consider counselling, mediation and improvements to living conditions before discharge.
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