After the successful pilot of virtual witness examinations for sexual violence victims, the Sunflower Centers began full operation nationwide.

The National Court Administration (NCA Minister: KIM Sang-hwan) and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (Minister: KIM Hyunsook) announced that the ‘Pilot Virtual Witness Examinations held at the Sunflower Center’ will be expanded from 8 centers (located in 7 cities and one province) to 34 centers (16 cities and other provinces) from Thursday, April 21. The Center aims to protect child and youth victims of sexual violence while conducting witness examinations.

The 34 Sunflower Centers include 16 integrated centers, seven child centers, and 11 crisis centers. In addition, the Sunflower Center is now available for more youth victims by raising the applicable age from sixteen to nineteen.

The Sunflower Center was established as a responsive action to the Constitutional Court’s unconstitutionality decision held last year. The case concerned a special provision on the admissibility of a video-recorded statement made by sexual crime victims under the age of 19. The Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes provides this age. Anticipating the case decision’s impact that will allow a greater number of children and youth victims to make an in-person appearance at courtrooms, the NCA and the Ministry jointly carried out the ‘Pilot Virtual Witness Examinations through Sunflower Center.’ This was implemented in April of last year to lower the possibility of secondary victimization to the child and youth victims. In advance of the nationwide opening, the NCA and the Ministry will distribute the ‘Virtual Witness Examination Manual,’ which contains the result of the pilot operation, to all 67 courts and 34 Sunflower Centers across the country.

The manual provides information on preventing secondary victimization of child sexual abuse victims during the witness examination process; counseling and psychotherapy for victims before and after the witness examination; the work process for effective virtual witness examination; and other useful instructions in operating the sunflower center.

In addition, to promote the use of virtual witness examination at the Sunflower Centers, the NCA revised the Established Rules on the Hearing and Trial and Victims Protection for Sexual Violence Crime Cases on June 7, 2022. These rules offer the child and youth victims the option to give testimony virtually at Sunflower Center by indicating their intentions on the ‘Application for Witness Support Program’ delivered in the witness summons documents.