The Taipei Bar Association yesterday criticized the nation’s judiciary over its handling of a sexual harassment case involving former Taipei High Administrative Court judge Chen Hung-pin (陳鴻斌) and urged all officials and legal practitioners to improve gender equality in the work environment.
The Judicial Yuan’s Court of the Judiciary, which handles disciplinary cases involving judges, in October 2016 found that Chen was guilty of sexually harassing his assistant and said that he should be dismissed.
It was the first time a Taiwanese court had ordered a judge’s dismissal due to sexual harassment.
Chen appealed and the court, in its second ruling, ordered Chen to pay a fine equal to one year of his salary on the grounds that he had shown remorse and that only three incidents of harassment were proven.
In a public statement yesterday, the association pointed to the many cases of sexual harassment against women in other countries that has prompted the MeToo movement, adding that victims in Taiwan are also courageously coming forward to report incidents of rape, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
“Chen’s case shows that our nation’s justice system lacks an understanding of gender equality and disregards cases of discrimination against women in workplace. It has severely undermined the public’s trust in the judiciary,” the association said.
“The court failed to take into account that Chen’s sexual advances were made by a man in a position of power, who has far higher social status and resources than his victim, which placed her at a disadvantage and made it unable for her to fight back,” the association said.
These things were not taken into consideration, “which resulted in the judiciary helping to shield one of its own from punishment, which leads to a breakdown of the people’s faith in the justice system,” it added.
Judicial-reformist organization White Rose Social Care Association said they are planning a protest rally in the coming days over what they said were the court’s “lenient disciplinary measures.”
Judicial Yuan officials said they respect the opinions of the groups, adding “we will note the opinions of various sectors of society, which will be considered in future law amendments.”
Meanwhile, after reports on Thursday by Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Link that at least six assistants to legislators have been sexually harassed by their colleagues, Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) yesterday called on employees at the legislature that have been harassed to report the perpetrators.
Should Legislative Yuan employees encounter sexual harassment in the workplace, they are encouraged to file a report with the Sexual Harassment Investigation and Disposition Committee, which is in charge of receiving and investigating such cases, he said.
The Legislative Yuan encourages any employee that has been sexually harassed to file a complaint, so sexual harassment can be eliminated from the workplace, he said.
As legislators are the employers of their assistants, they are responsible for filing complaints about assistants that are suspected to have broken the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法), Lin said, adding that the committee would then investigate the claims and offer potential victims legal assistance.
Additional reporting by Sean Lin
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