How did the #MeToo movement influence Choi Mal-ja’s retrial bid?

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The #MeToo Movement Provided Crucial Momentum for Choi Mal-ja's Retrial Bid

The global #MeToo movement, which gained significant traction in 2017, served as a pivotal inspiration for Choi Mal-ja to pursue a retrial for her 1964 conviction. This movement emboldened her to seek justice and challenge a legal outcome that had previously deemed her actions as exceeding justifiable self-defence. Choi formally initiated her retrial request in 2020, a process that, despite initial rejections by lower courts, ultimately culminated in South Korea’s highest court ordering a new hearing in 2024, allowing her to be acquitted 61 years after her original sentencing.
Inspiration for Seeking Justice

The #MeToo movement, beginning in 2017, created a global environment that encouraged victims of sexual violence to speak out and seek accountability. For Choi Mal-ja, who was convicted in 1965 for grievous bodily harm after biting off a portion of her attacker's tongue in self-defence, this wave of activism provided the impetus to revisit her case. This period saw substantial women's rights protests in South Korea, leading to advancements on various social and legal issues.
The Path to a Retrial

Following the inspiration from the #MeToo movement, Choi Mal-ja filed for a retrial in 2020. However, her initial attempts to have her case re-examined were unsuccessful, with lower courts rejecting her petition. Undeterred, and after years of persistent campaigning and further appeals, the momentum built by the broader movement and her own advocacy efforts led to a significant breakthrough. In 2024, South Korea's top court acknowledged the necessity of a retrial, paving the way for the eventual acquittal.
Overturning a Decades-Old Conviction

The retrial, ordered in 2024, finally led to Choi Mal-ja's acquittal by the Busan District Court on Wednesday. The court ruled that her actions in 1964, when she defended herself against a sexual assault by biting off approximately 1.5 centimetres of her aggressor's tongue, constituted justifiable self-defence. This landmark decision overturned her original conviction from 1965, which had found her actions to have “exceeded the reasonable bounds of legally permissible self-defence.”

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How did the #MeToo movement influence Choi Mal-ja’s retrial bid?

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