The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation yesterday urged the government to pass legislation to prevent stalking as soon as possible to care for and protect victims.
Several recent cases that began with stalking have led to death or injury because they were not handled properly, the foundation said in a statement.
A special law is needed to deal with cases of stalking, it said, adding that regulation should not be limited to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法), the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法) or the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法).
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The National Police Agency has expressed concern that by including within the scope of stalking a range of behaviors from neighbors filing reports on each other to debt disputes, journalists taking photographs of subjects by following them and the behavior of so-called “haters” online, different versions of an anti-stalking bill proposed by lawmakers could make the police susceptible to being seen as having too much power, the foundation said.
Having a law that clearly defines stalking behavior and establishes standard operating procedures could help resolve those doubts, it said.
A warning system should be established to allow police to intervene early to prevent tragedies, it said, adding that the law should be expanded to cover a larger segment of the population.
Separately, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislative caucus also called for the enactment of an anti-stalking bill as soon as possible, adding that the Executive Yuan should propose its own version of the bill to be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan.
Nearly 20,000 stalking cases are recorded each year, KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that such incidents pose a serious threat to women.
The statements by the foundation and the KMT caucus come after a woman in Pingtung County surnamed Tseng (曾) was allegedly abducted and killed by a man surnamed Huang (黃).
Tseng had filed multiple police reports against Huang for alleged harassment and stalking.
Police need laws that allow them to intervene early on, KMT Legislator Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) said.
Lawmakers have proposed 15 versions of an anti-stalking bill, KMT Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) said, urging the Executive Yuan to quickly submit its own version for review by the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
The proposed legislation must pass this legislative session, said Lin, who is a coconvener of the committee, adding that the committee is to continue reviewing proposed provisions for the bill on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Lin Liang-sheng and CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and