A sexual harassment prevention and consultation hotline for Taipei would be launched later this month, the Taipei Department of Social Welfare said on Saturday.
Independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) on Friday evening wrote on Facebook that as rock singer and producer Bobby Chen (陳昇) had been accused by a female record designer of sexual harassment, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) had on Friday said the city government would be taking a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment.
She questioned why Chiang had been so quick to suspend Chen’s performance at the Tianmu Beer Festival on Saturday, as the six improvement measures for dealing with sexual harassment created previously by the city government had not yet been implemented.
The improvement measures include a “MeToo sexual harassment appeal and consultation hotline,” which was scheduled to be launched this month, Lin said, adding that when she had asked the city’s social welfare department about it, the department had said it could not promise when it would be launched.
Lin said she recognizes front-line city government officials’ sexual harassment prevention efforts, but she is questioning the efficiency of the Chiang-led city government and the mayor’s determination regarding the zero-tolerance approach.
The department on Saturday issued a news release stating that Chiang in the middle of last month had instructed the department to set up the sexual harassment appeal and consultation hotline.
The department said it has already subsidized the Modern Women’s Foundation — the group commissioned to operate the hotline, which would be late this month.
The current laws dealing with sexual harassment include the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法), the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別工作平等法) and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法), so the department hopes the commissioned civic group would be capable of responding to questions regarding the three laws, and provide counseling and legal advice to people who phone in.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
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