How the spy-cam epidemic in South Korea affects the women who are its victims

Over the past two decades, ever-smaller video cameras, an explosion in user-uploaded, largely unmoderated internet pornography and blindspots in law enforcement have given rise to an epidemic of spy-cam pornography in South Korea. For many women, any slight opening in the window blinds or gap in a bathroom wall has the potential to cause trauma and upend their life. The short documentary Open Shutters from the South Korean filmmaker Youjin Do tells the powerful story of the journalist Jieun Choi who, while reporting on the disturbing ubiquity of spy-cam porn in the country, found out that she too was a victim. The film places Choi’s story in the context of a widespread movement seeking justice for these crimes, for which male perpetrators are rarely held to account. In doing so, her film raises broader questions of gender equality, privacy and law enforcement in the digital age.