If a grown man approaches an eight-year-old girl in a store and forcefully licks her feet, does that constitute sexual harassment?
The question should be obvious. The issue is that law enforcement in this day and age is even debating what constitutes sexual harassment.
As open and advanced as Taiwan is, it often feels that some parts of it remain in a time warp.
Two topics have been the subject of judicial debate lately — the toe-licker and online gambling.
Online gambling is indeed murky, as Taiwan’s laws only prohibit gambling in public places, and it is worth debating whether people should be punished for gambling from their homes on a Web site that is not hosted in Taiwan.
However, the debate over sexual harassment is ludicrous — judges should make the call instead of reverting to their wishy-washy “dinosaur” habits of protecting the perpetrators.
The accused in the toe-licking case committed a similar crime in 2016 and was charged with sexual harassment — but was given a 40-day sentence commutable to a NT$40,000 fine. This kind of slap on the wrist will not stop anybody, but that is for a different debate.
In any case, he allegedly did it again on Sunday, and while he was arrested on sexual harassment charges, not only was he released without bail, the prosecutors said there was “room for debate” whether his behavior constituted sexual harassment.
This is a repeat offender and the victim is a minor, and yet again law enforcement tries to make excuses for the suspect.
It is really hard to understand why the judicial system is so lenient toward such vile behavior.
The girl went through quite an ordeal, spending four hours being questioned by police, having to repeatedly recount the experience — while the suspect kept spouting complete nonsense, such as that he saw something dirty on her foot and wanted to clean it off.
According to the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法), the offending action should exhibit “sexual behavior violating another person’s wishes.”
According to a report by the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times), the prosecutors are not sure licking someone’s toes constitutes sexual behavior.
What world does these prosecutors live in that they have never heard of a foot fetish, one of the most common sexual fetishes in the world, in which licking is one of the most common ways to express it?
In the 2016 incident, as well as Sunday’s, a young girl was targeted. That is pedophilia. That this even has to be explained shows the ridiculousness of it all.
The bright side is that the judge agreed that it was sexual harassment, saying that toe-licking is a sexual act for certain people and the suspect’s behavior constituted improper contact that clearly made the victim feel uncomfortable or disgusted.
How this case and other sexual harassment cases play out should be closely watched.
Victims in Taiwan are already often reluctant to report such cases due to a number of societal factors, and would be even less likely to press charges if the suspect gets away again with just a fine or is not even charged with sexual harassment.
Laws should be consistent. If the suspect was charged in the 2016 case for the same act, it cannot be up for debate now.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry