SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Nine in 10 Korean women think that women are not treated as equally as men in South Korea and most sexual discrimination takes place at home, a survey released on Thursday (Sept 28) showed.

According to the survey by woman's rights group Womenlink, 93 per cent of the respondents said "No" when they were asked whether Korea was a gender-equal country. Only 2 per cent said that women were treated equally and 5 per cent did not respond.

The survey was conducted on 1,257 women ranging from those in their teens to those in their 70s.

The majority of those polled, or 23 per cent, said that they had experienced sexual discrimination at home. Some 15 per cent said they had felt discriminated against while driving or using public transport, and 14 per cent had felt that way at schools.

A stereotype over traditional gender roles prevails in the country, with many women saying they had been asked to do housework just because they were women, according to Womenlink.

"At all places such as schools and home, they were ignored and judged by their physical appearances," the organisation said, adding that it shows the "unjust" reality of Korean society.

Gender disparity indicators have put South Korea among the bottom of rankings.

The Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum in 2016 placed South Korea at 116 out of 144 countries. The country was the worst in terms of discrimination against women at work among 29 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the index disclosed by British magazine The Economist.