Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday urged presidential hopefuls to endorse a proposed amendment that would allow for the caning of sex offenders.
At a press conference in the legislature yesterday, DPP Legislator Hsueh Ling (
She also called on lawmakers to back an amendment to the Sexual Assault Prevention Law (
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
She said she would publicize the names of presidential contenders who did not back the amendment, adding that she hoped it would pass cross-party negotiations this week.
"The future leader of the nation has to respect Taiwanese women," she said. "I will mobilize women's groups to boycott any national leader who does not respect women and does not endorse this important legislation, which aims to intimidate sexual predators."
The proposal came after the police arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the rape of a medical student on March 11. The suspects are believed to have abducted the student as she was walking near Shilin Night Market in Taipei.
One of the suspects is also suspected of having raped a female taxi driver before his capture on Saturday morning.
Although police broke the case in five days, many women have doubts about the safety of Taiwanese society because the two suspects abducted their victim from a city street, Hsueh said.
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-hui (
"Last year alone, 5,638 cases were reported. About 60 percent of the victims were minors and the youngest victim was only three," she said.
Chang said Taiwan should emulate Florida's "Jessica's Law" and introduce severe punishments for malicious or serial sex offenders.
Jessica's Law was passed in Florida in 2005 after a young girl named Jessica Lunsford was raped and killed by a previously convicted sex offender.
The law was introduced amid public outrage as a result of the case, and mandates at least 25-years of prison and lifetime electronic monitoring for convicted sexual predators. Forty-two out of the 50 US states have introduced similar legislation since the passage of the law.
DPP Legislator Chen Shui-hui (
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS