The #MeToo movement was started by activist Tarana Burke, who coined the term in 2006. However, it gained traction in 2017, when actress Alyssa Milano urged victims of sexual harassment and assault to share their stories on social media.
Several celebrities did so, as did millions of others in the years that followed. The results were far-reaching — scores of formerly powerful men have been toppled after being accused of sexual assault and harassment, such as movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The movement is now spreading in Taiwan’s political world. The movement started after a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) worker in an online post detailed how DPP deputy secretary-general Hsu Chia-tien (許嘉恬) poured cold water on her pleas for help after being sexually harassed and dissuaded her from seeking a full investigation into the incident.
As other victims came forward to talk about similar treatment and experiences in other political parties, the cases of misconduct are being brought under public scrutiny, bringing the issue of sexual harassment to the forefront.
This provides an opportunity to assess and expel unfit politicians, and address social issues such as gender inequality and the abuse of power.
Unfortunately, as it is now campaign season, political parties have latched on to the sexual harassment scandals to hurl accusations at each other, causing double injury for the victims in the process.
In the #MeToo movement, victim-blaming should be the last thing on people’s mind. Instead, they should direct their attention to pinpoint the structural issues and reasons behind each incident. The accusations should never be trivialized into a mere political problem, but a human rights issue that concerns every member of society.
When Vice President and DPP Chairman William Lai (賴清德) was asked about the incident, he said that abuse of power and gender inequality at the workplace should, by no means, be swept under the carpet for the sake of a political campaign.
I would like to add a twist to Lai’s remark: People should take the “campaign” seriously, a campaign that stands up for the victims and for a brighter, equal future.
This campaign should not concern party interests, neither should they be launched for the sake of political campaigns, but to create a friendly work environment, promote gender equality and build a society where every person respects each other. This is the “campaign” that everyone hopes to see.
As for the victims, the public should give them their full support and empathy, and help them return to a normal life.
For the abusers, society should let them know that their behavior is unacceptable and that they should make amends, repent of their wrongdoing, throw themselves behind the campaign and ask for forgiveness.
Perhaps this is a God-given opportunity for Taiwan to tackle sexual inequality and the abuse of power prevalent in the workplace by incorporating sexual issues into the curriculum or making legal amendments.
Only by bringing about real changes can Taiwanese prevent similar tragedies from happening again and ensure that the tears of the victims were not shed in vain.
By having the courage to stand up and use our voice to support the victims and respect others, we can all become a Tarana Burke or Alyssa Milano for others.
Samuel Tung is a freelance writer and political worker.
Translated by Rita Wang
From the Iran war and nuclear weapons to tariffs and artificial intelligence, the agenda for this week’s Beijing summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is packed. Xi would almost certainly bring up Taiwan, if only to demonstrate his inflexibility on the matter. However, no one needs to meet with Xi face-to-face to understand his stance. A visit to the National Museum of China in Beijing — in particular, the “Road to Rejuvenation” exhibition, which chronicles the rise and rule of the Chinese Communist Party — might be even more revealing. Xi took the members
After Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing, most headlines referred to her as the leader of the opposition in Taiwan. Is she really, though? Being the chairwoman of the KMT does not automatically translate into being the leader of the opposition in the sense that most foreign readers would understand it. “Leader of the opposition” is a very British term. It applies to the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, and to some extent, to other democracies. If you look at the UK right now, Conservative Party head Kemi Badenoch is
A Pale View of Hills, a movie released last year, follows the story of a Japanese woman from Nagasaki who moved to Britain in the 1950s with her British husband and daughter from a previous marriage. The daughter was born at a time when memories of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki during World War II and anxiety over the effects of nuclear radiation still haunted the community. It is a reflection on the legacy of the local and national trauma of the bombing that ended the period of Japanese militarism. A central theme of the movie is the need, at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Friday used their legislative majority to push their version of a special defense budget bill to fund the purchase of US military equipment, with the combined spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.78 billion). The bill, which fell short of the Executive Yuan’s NT$1.25 trillion request, was passed by a 59-0 margin with 48 abstentions in the 113-seat legislature. KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who reportedly met with TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) for a private meeting before holding a joint post-vote news conference, was said to have mobilized her
RSS