The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday sought a way to improve the current system for reporting domestic abuse, while many officials complained that the system has been complicated by the interference of the local media.
"Victims and families of domestic abuses should be protected from being named or identified by the media. Families seeking help from the media complicate the cases and the criticisms of the system might make many people hesitate to report such cases," Lin Tzu-ling
No consensus was reached at the MOI meeting held yesterday to discuss the matter. However, Lin said that her department would discuss with communications and journalism academics about how to restrict the media's reporting of such cases.
Taiwan's Anti-Domestic Violence Law (家暴法) came into effect in 1998. But with Taiwan's traditional culture, the ministry's Sexual Harassment Prevention Council has had difficulties with promoting the system for the reporting of domestic abuses and sexual harassment.
Recently, the system was criticized for what some alleged was inappropriately separating an elementary school girl and her parents. The girl was taken from her home in March after her teacher reported that she thought the girl was being abused.
In October, the girl was reunited with her family after the Panchiao District Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that her father and uncle had sexual harassed her.
During the time the girl was separated from her family, the parents held several press conferences at which they criticized government officials and the daughter's teacher. TV stations gave great play to the story and images of the parents crying and screaming were broadcast around the clock.
Following the court ruling that returned the girl to her parents, the school teacher reporting the case was removed from Shin Chuang elementary school (新莊國小) where she taught.
In addition, part of Taipei County government's budget for handling domestic abuses was taken away as a punishment.
The county council worries such actions will make teachers and others hesitate to report suspected domestic abuses cases in the future.
Wang Ru-Shiuan
That could be one of the reasons why the court said there was not enough evidence and ordered that the girl be returned to her parents.
"Figuring out how to implement the reporting system to protect victims and families is very difficult," Lin said.
According to statistics, 33,075 alleged victims sought restraining orders or court injunctions over the past three years. Some 2,480 cases connected to domestic abuse are reported each month.
The council's proposed amendment to the anti-harassment law states that media organizations should be prohibited from reporting certain information when covering such cases. The publication ban would apply to the victims' names, the names of the people reporting such cases to the government and any related information that would allow the public to recognize the victims -- unless the victims agree to make that information known.
If passed, media organizations violating the new law could be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000.
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