Nearly half of Taiwan's citizens are unaware of the government's free services to protect victims of sexual offenses and domestic abuse, the results of a government survey showed yesterday.
The survey, conducted by the Ministry of the Interior, gauged citizens' views on how the government helped victims of sexual and domestic violence.
About 49 percent of interviewees were unaware of the ministry's free services for victims of sexual and domestic violence: such as financial assistance, legal assistance, counselling and temporary housing.
Of the respondents, 43 percent were unaware that some victims are also eligible for grants from local governments to help with the costs of psychological and medical treatment and legal fees arising from the offenses.
"We are surprised about Tai-wanese citizens' ignorance of these services, and we will try to work on promoting them better," the ministry's Family Violence Prevention Commission said.
Almost 79 percent of interviewees did know, however, that under the Domestic Violence Prevention Law, victims of domestic violence may apply for certain protections, such as restraining orders and court injunctions.
The survey, conducted in June and July, is part of the ministry's annual research on quality-of-life issues in Taiwan. The respondents were a random sample of 4,067 people from around the country.
Liao Hsueh-chen (廖雪貞), an official at The Garden of Hope Foundation, a charity that assists young prostitutes and orphans, said that a shortage of social workers was an obstacle to both providing government services and raising awareness of them.
RSS