A women's rights group yesterday complained that government offices and the media did not handle rape allegations against former New Party lawmaker Elmer Fung (馮滬祥) carefully or properly. Their carelessness caused the victim to be violated twice, the group said.
"Our research shows that the Taipei City Government's Department of Labor and the Department of Social Welfare's Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault should be blamed," said Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻), chairwoman of the Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women's Rights.
Wu said that under the rape-victim protection system, the police, the labor department, local hospitals and the center are supposed to alert each other and update their latest information once a rape victim reports to any one of them. Social workers, police officers, labor officials and medical doctors will then provide help to the victims. However, in this case, the center and the department did not do their jobs as they were supposed to.
According to Wu, the victim, who was only identified as Rose, reported to the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) on Jan. 23 that she had been raped by Fung. Accompanied by the office's employees, Rose went to Mackay Memorial Hospital for help and reported to the police. The police alerted the center around 5pm on Jan. 24. The hospital, however, did not do so until Jan. 26.
However, the labor department was not alerted at all until its officials received a fax from the MECO on Jan. 27.
"As a result, it is our understanding that Rose was not helped by any social workers or government officials," Wu said.
The center's director, Tung Fu-chuan (童富泉), immediately responded yesterday afternoon that the center did not alert the labor department because it was Rose's wish they not to do so.
In the meantime, Broadcasting Development Fund CEO Connie Lin (
"What Rose looks like, how Rose sounds and how Rose was raped were all described in detail in newspapers for the past couple of days," Lin said.
"It seems to me that the media have mentally raped Rose again," she said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS