An official yesterday said it is possible to punish sexual harassment committed abroad under Taiwanese law, after lawmakers accused the Taoyuan City Government of failing to punish a pilot for harassing flight attendants while abroad.
The incident occurred in October last year at a restaurant in the Netherlands, where a Taiwanese pilot allegedly made inappropriate comments to two Taiwanese flight attendants working on the same flight, New Power Party Chairwoman Claire Wang (王婉諭) told a news conference at the legislature.
The women reported the incident to the airline, whose investigative committee agreed that the pilot had harassed them, Wang said.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui
The case was then forwarded to the Taoyuan City Government in accordance with procedure, she said.
However, as the incident happened abroad, the city government said it did not have jurisdiction over the case and could not penalize the pilot, she added.
Such incidents are not uncommon, as airline staff are often abroad while on duty, Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union managing director Steven Chang (張書元) said, adding that it takes a lot of courage to file a report.
The airline’s review committee in December last year determined that the incident constituted sexual harassment, he said.
The pilot “apparently had no remorse,” as he sent the flight attendants text messages pressuring them to withdraw their complaint, Chang said.
The Taoyuan City Government cited Article 6 of the Administrative Penalty Act (行政罰法), saying that as the incident occurred abroad and not on the airplane, it did not have the authority to issue punishments, Chang said, calling the decision a “second blow” to the victims.
“The government must offer an explanation to flight attendants,” he said. “They must not become legal orphans because of the nature of their work, or else perpetrators would take advantage.”
The city could have punished the pilot under Article 20 of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法), union deputy secretary-general Yeh Ching-yu (葉瑾瑜) said.
It could have referenced the third line of Article 6 of the Administrative Penalty Act, which says that contraventions are considered as occurring within Republic of China (ROC) territory “where either the commission of an act ... or the consequence resulting therefrom takes place within the territory of the Republic of China,” Yeh added.
Kuo Tsai-jung (郭彩榕), deputy director of the Department of Protective Services at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said that the city government sought advice from the ministry on March 8.
The ministry said the third line of Article 6 should apply and requested that the city submit a defense of its disputed points, Kuo said, adding that it must wait for the response.
The “consequence resulting therefrom” could be considered to be within ROC territory, she said.
In addition, the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act does not say that crimes committed abroad cannot be punished under the act, giving local governments room to decide based on the details of each case, Kuo added.
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