In the 26 years since the implementation of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (家庭暴力防治法), domestic violence incidents and applications for restraining orders have increased year-on-year, while the number of judicial personnel handling such incidents remains static, the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said yesterday.
Intimate partner violence has been the top reported incident in the past five years, but most cases are derided as “quarrels” due to a lack of understanding of the issue of power and control in intimate relationships, Fan said.
The foundation said speediness of ascertaining and ratifying protection orders is the key to preventing or decreasing intimate partner violence.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
However, despite an increase in protection order applications and reports of domestic abuse, most cases remain open, the foundation said.
As of last year, there were 28,803 unsolved domestic violence cases, the foundation said, adding that the number of judges and legal personnel assigned to review such cases has not increased, leading to the backlog.
The foundation said that victims’ personal safety is significantly affected due to insufficient judicial personnel and delays in issuing protection orders.
Victims could also be subject to regular cyberviolence as a result of protection orders failing to be reviewed, it said.
The foundation urged the government to step up efforts to promote awareness regarding power and control in intimate relationships, and called for the Judicial Yuan to assign more judges and other personnel to family courts.
The foundation also urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to mull amendments to the Public Assistance Act (社會救助法) that would offer resolutions that do not involve divorce litigation and instead help victims escape conditions where they are held hostage economically or by domineering partners.
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