The Modern Women’s Foundation called on the Legislative Yuan to consider legislating anti-harassment policies, highlighting the latest findings on the number of women being followed and harassed.
According to a poll conducted by the foundation, 52.7 percent of respondents were afraid of being followed and harassed, while 24.3 percent admitted to hearing stories about their friends being harassed or followed.
Of all the respondents, 12.4 percent said they had experiences of being followed, while 32.6 percent of those said the actions had affected their lives, causing them to feel fear and feelings of helplessness.
Of the people surveyed, 86.4 percent said that people who follow individuals or harass them should have to answer to the law.
The foremost method of harassment reported by those polled was by telephone or other forms of communication at 77.3 percent, with actual following and surveillance coming second at 42.6 percent, the report said.
The third-most employed method was the perpetrator’s hiring or using others to follow or monitor the victim — 24.1 percent — while 29.7 percent of respondents said they were followed or harassed by strangers.
Just over a quarter of respondents reported being followed or harassed by their former boyfriends or girlfriends (25.8 percent), while 23.9 percent said they had been harassed or followed by suitors, the report said, adding that 9.9 percent of respondents were still under constant harassment or being monitored.
National Chi Nan University professor Wang Pei-ling (王佩玲), said incidents involving following and harassing women had high rates of occurrence, were high risk, would likely cause those followed or harassed to feel fear and was highly damaging for them.
If legislation could be passed to outlaw such actions, it would help increase feelings of personal safety, Wang said, adding that the foundation had drawn up a draft act that would benefit not only women, but would be applicable to both sexes.
The act would be applicable to intimate relationships as well as strangers, Evergreen International Law lawyer Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄) said, adding that not only does the draft act clearly define the criminality of the action, it also gives clear-cut outlines of what forms these actions take.
The draft act establishes a warning system allowing police to warn the perpetrator of problematic behavior after a complaint is made, which makes the perpetrator criminally culpable within 72 hours if they conduct a repeat offense, Wang said.
The courts would have the power to issue restraining orders, prohibiting offenders from approaching victims, as well as prohibiting the offender from gathering and distributing information on the victims, Wang said, adding that the draft act aims to incorporate dual punishment under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Code and other administrative laws.
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