Students who made “tasteless” posts on social media referencing the alleged sexual assault of a teenaged former McDonald’s employee have ignited a debate over education and misogynistic online culture.
A number of high-school students, including some enrolled at prestigious schools, made provocative comments online that implied support for sexual violence against women, prompting some schools to post statements apologizing for their students’ posts.
On social media platform Threads, for instance, one male student from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School posted an image of classmates holding McDonald’s beverages accompanied by the words: “A world without women’s rights is awesome.”
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Other male students, including those from Tainan First Senior High School and National Hsinchu Senior High School, posted pictures of McDonald’s purchases alongside the comment: “Day 1 of supporting McDonald’s.”
The posts were made in response to the high-profile case of a 17-year-old former McDonald’s employee who allegedly killed herself last month after being coerced into sex by her supervisor for a year.
The male students’ posts were largely met with scorn, with Internet users posting critical comments such as “[You are] trampling on the wounds of others while thinking you are funny.”
Modern Women’s Foundation executive secretary Wu Tzu-ying (吳姿瑩) said the “tasteless” posts and the backlash against them showed that “incidents of sexual violence in the workplace need to be handled more carefully.”
“The most difficult aspect of promoting gender equality education is that men do not talk about the issue very much,” Wu said. “The current implementation of gender equality education should be carefully reviewed.”
Garden of Hope Foundation CEO Wang Yue-hao (王玥好) warned that students using “this kind of taunting derision” might make companies think that they do not need to pay attention to sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace as long as business remains good.
McDonald’s on Tuesday said it dismissed the supervisor in May following the girl’s “sexual harassment” complaint in March.
Taipei’s Department of Labor on Wednesday ordered McDonald’s to pay a fine of NT$1 million (US$30,562) for contravening gender equality laws by its handling of the girl’s complaint.
The case was also referred to prosecutors in May, Taipei police said last week.
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