Flushing out spycams in public loos to put an end to toilet porn

In recent months tens of thousands of women have taken to the streets of Seoul,  South Korea’s capital, carrying placards emblazoned with slogans like “my life is not your porn,” and “don’t send your daughter to Korea, she may become a porn star”.

The women, most wearing masks to guard against possible reprisals from the authorities, have been protesting against a new and alarming trend in the tech-savvy country – spycam porn, filmed in public toilets and changing rooms and known as molka porn.

While police say there were at least 26 000 complaints made from 2012-2014 and that 98% of perpetrators in molka cases are men, recent high-profile crackdowns by the government on female recorders of men have added fuel to the fire and lead to accusations of sexism and gender bias against the country’s police and judicial system.

The government has unveiled a new plan to combat the epidemic – 8,000 government workers will check for spycams in the capital’s 20,554 public toilets,   a job previously handled by a staff of only 50 who had found no cameras in the past two years.

Phones sold in South Korea are required by law to make an audible sound when taking pictures but molka enthusiasts have found other ways to capture footage – hiding cameras in pens, watches and shoes.