The National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations yesterday led 26 organizations in demanding that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) apologize after a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker accused him of sexual harassment.
DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said that Chen pressed his belly against her during a scuffle inside the legislative chamber on Tuesday.
Chen said that the accusation was unwarranted.
“It was not sexual harassment, as it is impossible to become pregnant from a belly,” he said.
“My belly made contact with her,” Chen told reporters. “What is her problem? She thinks too highly of herself.”
“I do not have feelings for her,” he said. “She is being vain and self-important.”
Wang Kuang-yu (王冠予), head of Chen’s legislative office, wrote on Facebook that Fan “is trying to get media attention.”
“She should look herself in the mirror,” Wang wrote, adding: “We question her personality.”
The alliance said that lawmakers should know better.
“We are disappointed that it has been 15 years since the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法) was promulgated, but we still have legislators who do not understand that sexual advances and similar actions that violate the will of another person constitute sexual harassment,” the alliance said in a statement. “It has nothing to do with whether a woman will get pregnant.”
The comments by Chen and Wang added to the insult and vilified a victim, it said.
“The remarks showed that the men seriously lack understanding on issues of sexual equality,” it said. “They did not try to comprehend and make a self-assessment, but continued to use disparaging words and added to the sexual harassment.”
“Every person has the right not to be violated by sexual harassment, it is guaranteed by the law,” the alliance said. “The KMT, which Chen belongs to, is silent on the matter. It is as though the party had given such behavior the green light.”
Speaking to reporters after the scuffle, Fan said that Chen prodded her from behind three times.
“He did not express regret and said his belly would not result in pregnancy, so it was not sexual harassment,” she said. “Then he demanded that I provide evidence.”
“It was not just Chen Hsueh-sheng, but the whole party through their reactions — they have no understanding about sexual equality and their comments made even more uncomfortable,” she said.
KMT Legislator Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮) wrote on Facebook that “it looked like Fan was smiling throughout, as though she was enjoying it.”
After receiving criticisn for the comment, Hsu said that “enjoying” was merely a description and people should not be offended by his use of the word.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS