From Shock to Stagnation: The Failure of the Internalization Stage of Norms Against CSV and TFGBV in Post-Nth Room South Korea

Nadia Fidela Sholiha, Arindha Nityasari

2026 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

Kasus Nth Room menjadi poin penting dalam diskursus Cyber Sexual Violence (CSV) dan Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV) di Korea Selatan. Kasus tersebut mendorong diskusi masif dan reformasi ekstensif melalui Paket Undang-Undang Nth Room (Nth Room Law Package). Akan tetapi, terlepas dari upaya tersebut, masalah CSV dan TFGBV masih marak terjadi, hal ini menimbulkan pertanyaan bahwa apakah norma-norma internasional yang menentang CSV dan TFGBV dalam reformasi tersebut telah sepenuhnya diinternalisasi oleh institusi-institusi di Korea Selatan. Tesis ini mengkaji mengapa proses internalisasi norma-norma internasional tersebut gagal di Korea Selatan pasca-kasus Nth Room. Menggunakan model Norm Life Cycle karya Finnemore dan Sikkink bersama dengan Feminist Institutionalism, studi kualitatif berbasis literatur ini mengkaji tahap kemunculan, penyebaran, dan internalisasi norma-norma tersebut, serta bagaimana interaksi antara lembaga formal dan informal mempengaruhi internalisasi norma-norma yang menentang CSV dan TFGBV di Korea Selatan. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa meskipun norma-norma internasional yang menentang CSV dan TFGBV berhasil melewati tahap kemunculan dan tahap penyebaran, norma-norma tersebut gagal untuk diinternalisasi sepenuhnya. Kegagalan ini berakar pada kesenjangan antara institusi formal yang telah direformasi dan institusi informal, yang menuntut kesopanan, privasi, dan tanggung jawab perempuan, yang terus mempengaruhi ekspektasi masyarakat dan institusi, terutama melalui victim blaming, stigma, dan keringanan hukuman. Selain itu, perkembangan politik yang menargetkan kerangka kerja feminis semakin melemahkan para penggerak norma di tingkat domestik serta dukungan terhadap kebijakan yang berwawasan gender. Pada akhirnya, Korea Selatan tetap terjebak di antara tahap penyebaran dan tahap internalisasi, yang menunjukkan bahwa reformasi hukum formal itu sendiri tidak menjamin transformasi kebiasaan-kebiasaan yang sudah tertanam kuat dalam lembaga-lembaga informal.

The Nth Room case became a critical point on Cyber Sexual Violence (CSV) and Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) discourse in South Korea. The case itself had prompted massive discussion and extensive reforms through the Nth Room Law Package. However, despite these, CSV and TFGBV remain prevalent which raise the questions about whether international norms against CSV and TFGBV inside the reforms have been fully internalized within South Korean institutions. This thesis examines why the internalization process of said international norms failed in post-Nth Room South Korea. Applying Finnemore and Sikkink’s Norm Life Cycle model alongside Feminist Institutionalism, this qualitative desk study examines the emergence, cascade, and internalization of these norms and how the interaction between formal and informal institutions affected the internalization of norms against CSV and TFGBV in South Korea. This study finds that while international norms against CSV and TFGBV successfully passed through the emergence and cascade stages, they failed to reach full internalization. This failure stems from a persistent gap between reformed formal institutions and deeply embedded informal institutions with expectations of female modesty, privacy, and responsibility which continue to shape societal and institutional expectations, particularly through victim-blaming, stigma, and judicial leniency. Moreover, subsequent political shifts targeting feminist frameworks further weakened domestic gender-conscious norm entrepreneurs and the support for gender-conscious policy. Ultimately, South Korea remains trapped between the cascade and internalization stages, demonstrating that formal legal reform in itself does not ensure the transformation of deeply embedded habits of informal institutions.

Kata Kunci : International Norms, Cyber Sexual Violence, Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence, Norms Life Cycle, Institutions