With students looking for part-time jobs during the summer, the Taipei City Police Department has urged jobseekers to be on the lookout for several warning signs.
The police urged female jobseekers to ask a friend or family member to accompany them to job interviews or tell them the interview location to avoid potential dangers.
The police said a 26-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃), who was recently released on bail for allegedly using fake job interviews to sexually assault women last year, allegedly posted another job advertisement for a part-time job which involves playing board games with customers and comes with a high salary, in an attempt to attract underage girls.
When people arrived for a fake interview, Huang allegedly falsely identified himself as a National Chengchi University research assistant in one of the cases and a fortune teller in another, and sexually assaulted several victims, the police said.
Huang was arrested by the Taipei City Police Department earlier this month and charged with offences against sexual autonomy, youth sexual exploitation and interference with personal privacy, it added.
The police department said that jobseekers should look out for three red flags on job advertisements: no name, address, telephone number or contact person listed for the recruiting company; no specific job details and requirements targeting people with no job experience; and offering high pay and benefits with very little time commitment or effort.
Jobseekers should also watch out for five red flags in the interview process: the recruiter suddenly proposing a different business operation and post; asking for an identification card, registration fee, security deposit, uniform fee, training fee or required purchases; asking the jobseeker to start immediately without explaining the job duties; pressuring them to sign unknown contracts with a sense of urgency and without allowing them to take it home for further consideration; or discovering that the company has no other employees, it said.
Victims of sexual assault, regardless of their gender, should first ensure physical safety to avoid further harm, and try to reach a safe and secure place, a police officer who specializes in investigating sexual assault cases said.
If the victim was sexually assaulted in an unfamiliar environment, they should try to remember the objects in the environment, but avoid moving or touching them after the assault, so that the police can collect evidence at the scene and they can describe the scene when testifying against the offender, the police officer said.
The victim should first put on a coat, report the incident to the police, and have a social worker or police officer accompany them to the hospital for a sexual assault forensic examination, to collect possible DNA evidence, the officer said.
The victims should not immediately take a shower or change their clothes after the incident, as it might damage the evidence, it said.
Even if victims do not want police involvement right away, they should still keep all possible evidence, to prevent the offender from getting away with the crime, the officer said.
Victims of sexual assault can call the “113” Children and Women’s Protection Hotline after an assault, it said.
The sexual assault prevention center has social workers available at all times and they can accompany the victims to a hospital for medical examination, report the case to the police and assist in further legal actions, it said.
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