Convenience Stores As a Safe Haven

Seoul, South Korea, uses convenience stores as a safe shelters for women in need.

August 28, 2014

SEOUL, South Korea – Since the Seoul Metropolitan city government has designated 638 convenience stores that are open 24 hours a day as safety protection spots for women, more and more women have used the places in emergency situations.

In February of this year, the city government signed an agreement with the Korea Association of Convenience Stores and its five members, CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Ministop and C-Space, to utilize those stores as temporary shelters for women in need.

Convenience stores offer 24/7 service and have closed circuit television cameras, which is why they are considered a practical location to be used as a safe space for women in danger who may need a temporary place to stay. Working with the city’s police department, the city’s government has set up a police hotline in those convenience stores. When a person presses an emergency button or leaves the telephone receiver off the hook, police officers are dispatched to the store. Additionally, these agencies share information about convenience stores operated as a safety shelter with nearby police stations and patrol divisions.

The local government has also instructed about 670 managers and supervisors of the stores on how to handle possible emergency situations and provided the convenience chains with its own instructions concerning the operation.

To learn more about other benefits (and downsides) of 24-hour operations, read the cover article in the August issue of NACS Magazine.

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