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The hidden camera phenomenon prevalent in Korean society seems to threaten the mental health of women. According to a survey of Seoul citizens conducted in June 2019 on the issue of hidden cameras, two out of three feel anxious about hidden cameras in their everyday lives, and 80% of women reported high levels of daily fear about hidden cameras (Ahn, 2019). The fact that even a celebrity posted secretly filmed sex videos through group messengers increased the visibility and seriousness of the hidden camera phenomenon in the eyes of the public (Lee, 2020).

The use of hidden cameras is classified as a digital sex crime with the combined characteristics of cyber- and sexual violence (Bloom, 2014). Victims of revenge pornography, one type of digital sex crime, experience trust issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, suicidal intentions, and many other mental health problems (Bates, 2017). Women who have experienced sexual violence tend to be ashamed of the fact (Bates, 2017), and fear that their private affairs will be made public (Weiss, 2010). According to one study (Kwon & Lee, 2013), female college students’ daily fear of sexual violence has led to cognitive changes, degrading their sense of control over themselves. In another study (Jang, 2009), the main difference between men and women’s perception of the danger of sexual violence is that 48.9% of women (and 19.7% of men) believe that they are likely to experience sexual assault. These results suggest that the hidden camera phenomenon would cause changes in women’s daily lives similar to those caused by fear of sexual assault.

Hidden cameras are frequently placed in metro stations and other public places (59%) such as restrooms and changing rooms, which causes wariness and anxiety in women in public places, and approximately eight out of ten perpetrators are strangers to the victims (Shin, 2019b). The rise in hidden camera incidents extends the crime scene from private to public areas (e.g., public restrooms) which increases the daily effect on women (Jeon, 2019). Although both men and women evinced a fear of being secretly filmed, the sources of that fear were different. Men fear hidden cameras in hotel rooms (65%) while women fear hidden cameras in public restrooms (52%) (Ahn, 2019). This finding shows that the subject of hidden cameras is not only sexual activity but also the private daily activities of women. The use of hidden cameras in public restrooms and the prevalence of the sharing of these images in the male online community show that women are being sexually objectified in the course of their everyday lives.

Women’ fears of being filmed secretly are often invalidated or ridiculed by the fact that the hidden cameras are unseen, despite the fact that they can be aimed at anyone by anyone. Whether intentional or unintentional, having concerns about illegal filming dismissed is a form of gender microaggression, a form of indirect and subtle discrimination in the daily life of women (Sue, Capodilupo et al., 2007). It includes microassaults, rude or demeaning microinsults, and microinvalidation that denies or excludes a woman’s feelings or thoughts (Sue, Capodilupo et al., 2007). Among these, microinsults and microinvalidations are often dismissed as trivial incidents because it is harder to clearly reveal the damage they cause compared to sexual harassment or overt sexism (Gonzales, Davidoff, Nadal, & Yanos, 2015; Minikel-Lacocque, 2013). However, women who experience subtle sex discrimination (microinsults and microinvalidations) feel low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression (Basford, Offermann, & Behrend, 2014; Derthick, 2015; Judson, 2014). Also, it was found that women targeted by subtle sex discrimination experience confusion, self-doubt, alienation, and feelings of incompetence more strongly than women who experienced overt sex discrimination (Dumont, Sarlet, & Dardenne, 2010; Nadal & Haynes, 2012). Therefore, it is clear that the impact of gender microaggression can be greater than that of overt sex discrimination, even though gender microaggression can be perceived as a trivial matter.

Women’s psychological experiences in relation to the hidden camera phenomenon can be understood through social justice counseling (Vera & Speight, 2003). Traditional counseling theory attributed the cause of clients’ problem to internal factors (Jeong, 2015), but the latest trend in counseling psychology is to look at the social context that individuals interact with (Hou & Bonanno, 2018). Social justice counseling is an approach that considers the social context in line with changes in society and recognizes the importance of a preventive model that goes beyond a therapeutic intervention (Neukrug, 2015; Ratts, 2009). In other words, social justice counseling implies that the counselor should help clients using macrolevel changes, meaning institutional and social changes (Constantine, Hage, Kindaichi, & Bryant, 2007; Lim & Yeo, 2015; Vera & Speight, 2003).

To be more specific, the Advocacy Competencies of the American Counseling Association (ACA) describes necessary counselor skills, knowledge, and behavior that can be implemented to address systemic barriers (Lewis, Arnold, House, & Toporek, 2002). The Advocacy Competencies are organized around two dimensions: extent of client involvement in advocacy (collaboration with, on behalf of) and level of advocacy intervention (individual student/client, community/school/organization, public arena) (Lewis et al., 2002; Toporek & Daniels, 2018). The first domain, client/student empowerment, is to help clients advocate for themselves through direct counseling, and the second, client/student advocacy, refers to actions a counselor takes to advocate on behalf of an individual client, student, or family (Lewis et al., 2002). At the community/school/organization level, community collaboration and systems advocacy identify barriers and develop programs with groups or on behalf of groups (Choi, 2018; Lewis et al., 2002; Toporek, Lewis, & Crethar, 2011). Collective action and social/political advocacy refer to advocacy that counselors address through changes in public perception or policy (Toporek & Daniels, 2018).

Women’s anxieties about the possibility of being targeted by hidden cameras is based on the fact that illegal filming can happen anytime and anywhere without the victim being aware of it. The uncertainties associated with hidden cameras can make it difficult to determine whether (potential) victims were damaged or not, meaning that women’s fear and sense of having had their privacy violated is often ignored or minimized, which can be considered a form of gender microinvalidation. Therefore, the hidden camera phenomena could have a negative psychological impact on women through gender microaggression, suggesting that this problem should be viewed and resolved from a social justice counseling approach.

Despite the prevalence of the hidden camera phenomenon, only 20 studies have been carried out on this issue, and these were conducted in the areas of laws, legislation, and crimes (Ahn, 2018; Kim, 2018). Given the psychological impact of the hidden camera phenomenon on women, a psychological approach is needed. Accordingly, this study was conducted from the perspective of social justice counseling theory to understand the impact of the hidden camera phenomenon in Korean society on women, advocate for the social contexts of women to be taken into account, and participate in institutional and socio-environmental changes.

We used social justice theory as an overall theoretical framework with CQR methodology in analyzing the data, and the results of the study were categorized as follows: (a) effect of the hidden camera phenomenon on everyday lives, (b) effect of the hidden camera phenomenon on the perception of men and romantic relationships, and (c) transition of recognition due to the hidden camera phenomenon. Table 1 shows the results. Since 12 cases were used in this study, results corresponding to all 12 cases are classified as general, 50% or more as typical, and less than 6 cases as variants.

This study explored the impact of the hidden camera phenomenon in the everyday lives of female college students in Korea from the perspective of social justice counseling theory. In the domain of “the effect of the hidden camera phenomenon on everyday lives,” the participants reported negative emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes due to the hidden camera phenomenon. The results are in line with previous studies showing similar negative emotional and cognitive changes resulting from gender microaggressions, revenge pornography, cyberbullying, and sexual violence (Basford et al., 2014; Du, 2015; Dumont et al., 2010; Kwon & Lee, 2013; Nadal & Haynes, 2012; Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007). In terms of behavioral changes, the participants reported that they avoided socializing or checked their own behavior to prevent being filmed by hidden cameras. These changes occurred among female college students, showing that fear of hidden cameras limits the scope of their personal boundaries, are consistent with women’ response to deal with fear of sexual assault, sacrificing their behavioral freedom to deal with the fear (Kwon & Lee, 2013).

In the domain of “the effect of the hidden camera phenomenon on the perception of men and romantic relationships,” the result showed that female college students became wary and distrustful of men due to this. Participants reported it has led to a more negative perception of men, resulting in increased vigilance and distrust toward men around them, causing changes in the social networks of their everyday lives and negative perceptions of being in romantic relationships. This finding is consistent with the results of recent studies that female college students have a negative perception of and progressive ideas about marriage (Park, 2016) and with previous studies showing that women fear a loss of control in relation to sexual violence (Kwon & Lee, 2013).

Finally, in the domain of the “transition of recognition due to the phenomenon of the hidden camera,” most participants reported that they had become aware of gender inequality as a result of the hidden camera phenomenon, leading them to be self-reliant and have negative perceptions of the marriage system. They reported that they hope to change people’s perceptions through “change in the national gender equality policy” or “strengthening punishments regarding hidden cameras,” which is also consistent with the results of previous studies (Choi, 2017; Kim, 2017; Seo, 2017). The participants in this study also suggested that “increasing gender equality education” and “strengthening women’s solidarity” should both be centered on communication and support across genders. In other words, they do not think of hidden cameras as a problem on a personal level, but hope to change society by recognizing it as a societal problem. This raises the possibility that providing social justice counseling that enables systematic changes from a macro perspective by recognizing the adverse environmental impact on clients and carrying out social changes with clients would be a more appropriate response than treating the hidden camera phenomenon as an individual problem for each client.

The social justice approach in working with women dealing with these issues can be specified through the ACA advocacy competency model. Counselors who are working with women experiencing difficulties caused by the hidden camera phenomenon should understand the social structural barriers that women face and strive to empower their clients. In addition, by participating in social advocacy at the community level, counselors can engage in active counseling and call for social change, becoming policy makers and participating in public policy making (Choi, 2018; Ramírez Stege, Brockberg, & Hoyt, 2017; Vera & Shin, 2006). Therefore, the scope of counselors’ activities must be extended beyond the counseling rooms, and social advocacy training is necessary.

The results of this study suggest that to deal with the issues related to the use of hidden cameras, a space must be created to address the differences in gender-related preconceptions that can lead to both personal and social changes. Hence, education on recognizing hidden cameras as a gender-based crime reflecting gender microaggression in society is needed. In addition, to promote women’s mental health, inter-gender communication based on mutual empathy and various social interventions are needed. This study clearly conveyed female college students’ voices, and the participants indicated that participating in the study and sharing their concerns and hopes was in itself a meaningful act, showing that this study itself can have a positive impact on the lives and mental health of other women.