According to two social service groups, 91 percent of Taiwanese people support legislation that covers instances of sexual harassment such as groping and giving unwanted kisses. Legislators and government officials, meanwhile, disagreed over who should be responsible for investigating sexual harassment cases.
The survey of 1,093 adults across the country was sponsored by the all-female Pei-An Rotary Club in Taipei (
Members of the two groups are among activists who are pushing for the passing of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Bill (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Judge Gau Fehng-shian (
"If this bill is passed, legal definitions of sexual harassment and unwelcome groping will be established. Further, comprehensive resources will be made available to victims and a penal code for offenders will be put in place," Gau said at a public forum yesterday at the Legislative Yuan.
Earlier this week, a new draft of the bill was introduced by a number of female legislators from various political parties. The legislators included Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chou Ching-yu (
According to the draft, the Ministry of Interior would set up a sexual harassment committee to conduct mediation between victims and offenders in cases of sexual harassment as well as to provide healthcare resources for victims.
Remarking on the possibility of a setting up a specialized unit to investigate cases of sexual harassment, Lin Tsyr-ling (
"Our committee's staff has been working on sex-related offenses for a long time and experience tells us that offenders simply do not admit to their offenses, so conducting mediations would be problematic. Besides, the ministry will be short-staffed if every sexual harassment case needs to be investigated personally," Lin said.
Lin said that no other developed countries had put authority for such an investigative unit directly under a government body responsible for social policies, as sexual harassment cases may involve legal, labor, academic or other issues.
In 1999, the Modern Women's Foundation (
The Executive Yuan decided to dismiss the Sexual Harassment Prevention Bill because the draft did not define the venues in which offenses covered under the bill might take place, as was the Gender Equality Labor Law, which includes regulations pertaining to workplace sexual harassment.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
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WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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