As Taiwan’s #MeToo movement continues, more accusations of sexual harassment have been made against people in the fields of academia, politics and entertainment.
In response to accusations made against National Taiwan Normal University’s (NTNU) Department of Graphic Arts and Communications associate professor Chiu Yu-ping (邱于平), the university yesterday said it received new evidence and has relaunched an investigation, while a gender equity committee meeting would be held this month.
Chiu was accused of rubbing the neck, shoulders, lower stomach and hips of female students in his office, as well as putting his hand inside their clothes to touch their bra straps.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
This led to one of the students being afraid of walking to the department building alone, and seeking psychiatric help and anxiety medication, the university said.
The case was reported to NTNU’s gender equity committee on Dec. 2 last year, and an official application for an investigation was filed on Dec. 19 last year.
One of the students said that after the university’s first investigation, it in April recommended that the department suspend Chiu from teaching required courses and his position as a mentor teacher.
However, he was still allowed to teach elective courses this semester, which could have led to more assault cases, she said, adding that students petitioned for a reinvestigation.
NTNU said it would carefully look into the claims, according to the principle of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but not letting the guilty off the hook, to ensure students have a safe learning environment on campus.
Meanwhile, several female students launched an online page for alleged victims of former National Taiwan University (NTU) sociology assistant professor Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁) to gather, as they accused him of having romantic relations with students.
The NTU Department of Sociology yesterday said it had reported the claims to the university’s gender equity committee.
Lee wrote on Facebook that he had not used his position of power as a professor to form imbalanced relationships, but due to public concerns, he would resign from his teaching duties.
Separately, a woman who said she worked in Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling’s (賴香伶) office on Saturday wrote on Facebook that TPP Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) had sexually harassed her.
Chiu “placed his hand on my left hand, which was on my thigh,” she said.
Lai was present at the time, but did not stop him or deal with his behavior, she said.
Chiu responded on Facebook yesterday, saying that he does not know the woman, and that he has always abided by principles of workplace gender equality and never stepped over the line.
He said he would reserve the right to take legal action for alleged defamation.
Lin wrote on Facebook yesterday that the woman seemed to be a Social Democratic Party member, and that her sexual harassment allegation was a smear campaign against the TPP.
A lawyer yesterday said that if the woman is a victim of sexual harassment, that Lai revealed her identity could be considered a contravention of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法).
Also yesterday, actor Chris Wang (宥勝) apologized on Facebook after two members of staff accused him of having sexually harassed them, including licking ears, taking off their bras, embracing them and rubbing their chests.
Additional reporting by Lee Shao-ling
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