TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan is going through a long-delayed reckoning with sexual harassment and sexual violence. In the previous month, folks have stepped ahead with accusations, one after the opposite, resulting in legal investigations, resignations at totally different ranges of presidency, and a society-wide dialogue of the unstated guidelines that govern gender norms in society.
Taiwan’s #MeToo motion, which had a quick wave of accusations in 2017 because the #MeToo motion swept the globe, reignited on May 31 when a lady named Chen Chien-jou who labored for the Democratic Progressive Party, the social gathering in energy, accused movie director Hsueh Chao-hui of groping her and making undesirable sexual advances.
When she went to inform Hsu Chia-tien, the social gathering’s head of ladies’s affairs, Chen was met with dismissal and requested why she hadn’t screamed.
With the 2024 presidential marketing campaign kicking off, Hsu has since resigned from her publish, and the social gathering vowed to make adjustments internally with the backing of its new chair, Lai Ching-te. People inside the DPP accused of sexual harassment or assault have been pushed to resign, although Hsueh maintained his place as he doesn’t work for the social gathering. He issued a public assertion denying the accusation, saying he would cooperate with any investigation and apologizing for any misunderstanding.
On June 8, Taipei metropolis councilor Chung Pei-chun accused pro-Nationalist political pundit Lucifer Chu of forcibly kissing her a number of instances and grabbing her in 2022 at a non-public dinner with mates. Chung had appeared on a information program earlier in June alongside Chu to criticize the DPP’s sequence of sexual harassment allegations.
The Associated Press doesn’t often establish victims of alleged sexual assault, however Chung and others named on this report have chosen to publicly establish themselves.
“He was entirely serious as he criticized sexual harassment with a sense of righteousness, right in front of me,” Chung wrote in a Facebook publish. “How dare he?” She determined to talk up in honor of the values that originally compelled her to enter politics, she stated.
Chu later issued a public apology on Facebook, saying he was cooperating with prosecutors. “I’m willing to accept all the consequences and legal responsibilities.”
Last week, Taipei prosecutors subpoenaed Chu. Chung stated she was pursuing all programs of authorized motion and wouldn’t remark any additional on the case.
At first the accusations have been primarily within the political sphere, however quickly unfold.
One particular person introduced a legal go well with in opposition to TV host Chen Hsuan-yu. Known by his stage title, NONO, he’s been accused of sexual harassment, assault and different crimes. According to native media, not less than 20 girls have made accusations in opposition to NONO, and Taipei prosecutors are anticipated to subpoena him. On June 21, influencer Chiu Yao-le accused his former boyfriend Aaron Yan, a well-liked actor and singer, of filming them in mattress with out his consent when he was 16. The island’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated the ambassador to Thailand was pressured to resign after a sexual harassment grievance.
The wave of accusations and private tales of undesirable encounters has introduced the way in which Taiwan offers with sexual violence to the forefront of society.
“I think this has very effectively raised awareness for the public about sexual harassment, boundaries around the body, boundaries on our speech,” stated Cynthia Shih, director of the Awakening Foundation, a not-for-profit group that advocates for girls’s rights in Taiwan.
In Taiwan, three separate legal guidelines handle sexual harassment, relying on the place it occurred: academic establishments, workplaces, or someplace else. That dictates how totally different authorities ministries deal with the case, Shih stated, and circumstances of assault and rape fall below legal legislation.
Shih is hopeful that the power across the rising #MeToo resurgence may result in amendments, equivalent to requiring unbiased investigations for allegations, to the legislation governing sexual harassment in workplaces, which is due for a evaluate by Taiwan’s legislature later in July.
Several legislators and politicians have vowed authorized change. President Tsai Ing-wen, who belongs to the DPP, stated in a press release in early June that the social gathering would “make all efforts to investigate the relevant cases, and completely review and improve, while publicizing its reforms.”
But amending the legislation is barely as impactful because the tradition permits it to be, stated Chung, town councilor.
“The real problem is in each organizations’ environment, and whether those in charge have gender awareness,” Chung stated. “Otherwise, no matter how advanced and improved the law, no matter how tight the laws, if the people in the organizations don’t take it seriously, then there’s no real meaning to it.”
Topics like sexual harassment and sexual violence have been hardly ever mentioned in Taiwan, so the #MeToo resurgence supplied an opportunity for folks to air accusations of misconduct that had been buried or ignored for years.
At the elite Yu-Jen Catholic Elementary School in Taichung, college students have been afraid of Tseng Shui-cheng, the top of scholars who taught fifth and sixth grade, stated Chou, one among his former pupils. Now an grownup, she requested to make use of solely her final title out of concern of on-line harassment.
Students feared Tseng’s corporeal punishments and the way in which he handled feminine college students, particularly those that hit puberty earlier, Chou stated, alleging he would contact them on their again and linger, and that he as soon as touched her chest. Other former college students stated he touched their butts or thighs, in line with a grievance filed in opposition to the varsity.
“For those two years, everyday was filled with fear,” stated Chou. “When you’re so young, you’d wonder would this ever end?”
The Humanistic Education Foundation, a nonprofit skilled in coping with sexual harassment in colleges, helped Chou submit her grievance in 2022.
A particular exterior committee investigated the grievance, and in late May the muse printed the findings, which corroborated the allegations of sexual harassment by the trainer. The committee required Tseng to attend lessons on gender equality and sexual well being and publish a written apology that might solely be seen in particular person on the faculty.
Yu-Jen Elementary School additionally posted its personal apology from tutorial director Lu Mei-yun on its homepage. “We issue the deepest apologies to the alumni of the school,” stated Lu. However, she stated, “This happened 34 years ago.”
“The entire process was very closed off and passive,” stated Tseng Fang-Yuen, director of the Humanistic Education Foundation’s central bureau, who just isn’t associated to the trainer.
A journalist who accused a legislator from the opposition Nationalist Party of undesirable touching stated the social gathering falsely claimed the difficulty was resolved. The man requested anonymity as a result of he feared repercussions for his work as a journalist and gave solely his surname, Hu.
He stated that whereas leaving an occasion held for legislators and journalists at a karaoke venue in March, he shook fingers with the legislator Cheng Cheng-chien. The legislator allegedly scratched at Hu’s palm for greater than 10 seconds, which Hu stated has been a covert sign for intercourse amongst homosexual males.
Cheng, the Nationalist legislator, stated in his personal press convention that the accusation “had no basis in fact.”
Hu first raised his grievance privately by way of an e-mail to a devoted handle the Nationalist Party introduced June 2, together with a activity drive to analyze claims. Party officers got here to report Hu’s assertion and current Cheng’s assertion, which he thought was a part of a record-keeping course of for the investigation. On June 21, the social gathering launched a information assertion saying the difficulty was resolved after either side signed a press release and agreed to conclude. In the assertion, they stated they’d proceed to strengthen their response mechanism for sexual harassment points.
Feeling that the difficulty was not resolved, Hu appealed to a lawyer pal who then publicized his case as a #MeToo publish on Facebook. After that, social gathering officers met with him once more, Hu stated.
The Nationalist Party issued one other assertion on June 23 saying they’d not drop a case, and if there was new proof they’d restart the investigative course of.
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AP videojournalist Johnson Lai contributed to this report.
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