Reading media reports about allegations of sexual harassment at a Tainan school, Chang Ping (張萍), director of the Humanistic Education Foundation’ southern Taiwan office, felt it could not have been an isolated case. Twenty years of experience in handling such cases had taught the foundation that perpetrators are almost never first-time offenders.
To identify victims in need of help, Chang asked the school and the city government to widen their checks and to organize a task force.
She asked the school to allow her to hold a seminar for parents and arrange time to talk to students about bodily rights and related legislation, making a great effort to win teachers’ support.
After four months of looking for victims while traveling through areas so remote that there was not even mobile phone reception, she held a news conference and demanded legal amendments to better protect victims’ rights and pursue protected teachers.
Chang demanded that the Criminal Code be amended to establish exceptions to the statute of limitations for sexual assault on children so that the countdown only begins once the victim reaches adulthood, and demanded that a retroactivity clause and penalties for anyone covering up sexual assault on children be included.
More importantly, the victims are no longer mere victims — they become social advocates who can confront those in power, demand justice and promote the advancement of Taiwanese law.
The Tainan Bureau of Education and the school have initiated procedures in accordance with the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法), but the general public might not know that the competent authority — the Ministry of Health and Welfare — is not involved at all.
The Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act (性侵害犯罪防治法) has been around for 20 years, and Article 7 states that each academic year, students at the primary and middle-school levels should be given four hours or more of relevant courses, including courses on pregnancy and preventing pregnancy, and sexual assault prevention.
There are many cases of sexual assault every year — an average of almost two per day, according to the education ministry’s report on on-campus sexual assault — by teachers on students or between students, and there are even cases of girls who were not aware that they were pregnant giving birth in school restrooms.
However, I cannot seem to remember a single time when the health ministry commented on this state of affairs.
A non-governmental organization makes a huge voluntary effort, while the government agency charged with implementing policy stands on the sidelines as a teacher continues to sexually assault countless students for 20 years under the protection of his coworkers.
This is a shameful blot on the educational authorities, and although parents and the school share the blame for not improving students’ understanding of the concept of bodily autonomy, surely the main responsibility rests with the competent authority at central government level.
The health ministry should catch up with the times and formulate a policy to improve sexual assault prevention and punish school principals who have not been implementing the legally required education, as schools do not implement Article 7 of the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act and they are not being fined for not doing so.
The public should pressure the legislature to take action and the health ministry to reflect on the situation.
Huang Liya is a member of the Ministry of Education’s Gender Equality Commission.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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