The Ministry of the Interior and other agencies plan to soon propose amendments to the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (家庭暴力防治法), given the high number of cases in which people apply for protective orders, but continue to be abused while waiting for the order to be granted — a situation which seriously infringes upon people’s right to life and legal protection. The frequency of such cases clearly demonstrates the inadequacy of Taiwan’s social safety net.
National Police Agency data showed that there were 136,781 reported cases of domestic violence last year — 9,419 more cases compared with a year earlier, or a 7.4 percent increase. Additionally, the number of domestic violence cases referred as criminal cases for prosecution reached 13,831 last year, a rise of nearly 60 percent compared with 2021.
Both figures mark a five-year high. About half of those cases involve intimate partner violence, with one domestic violence incident occurring every 3.84 minutes on average.
Under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, protection orders are categorized by the perceived urgency of the applicant’s circumstances and the judicial process. Emergency protection orders are issued within four hours of the application, while temporary protection orders and ordinary protection orders are adjudicated within two months.
Among domestic violence cases handled by the police, about 20 percent of people apply for protection orders. However, Ministry of Justice data from 2022 to 2024 indicate that the average time needed to issue protection orders was 2.26 hours for emergency orders, 23.4 days for temporary orders and 51.94 days for ordinary orders. This demonstrates that between the time of application and issuance, there remains a large gap during which judicial protection is absent.
Furthermore, the current systems in place — such as the National Police Agency’s domestic violence and child protection case management system, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s protective services information system and even the Judicial Yuan’s information system — have yet to be integrated. As a result, frontline law enforcement officers are unable to access the most up-to-date information in real time.
For example, if a protection order has already expired, but the system has not been promptly updated, the police might make an arrest for an alleged contravention of the order. Thus, a real-time reporting and data integration platform for domestic violence and child protection cases should be established to prevent such gaps in information.
Police officers and judicial personnel are already overwhelmed with heavy caseloads and insufficient manpower. Given the high volume of domestic violence cases, introducing 24-hour electronic monitoring of the parties involved when issuing protection orders could disrupt institutional operations. Such a measure would merely increase responsibilities on personnel without providing adequate mechanisms of support, and might further accelerate the collapse of the system.
I once visited a university and rented a public electric scooter to ride around campus. The scooter only operated within certain areas — if it went beyond designated boundaries, it would immediately lose power.
Drawing on this experience, if there is a need for law enforcement, people subject to domestic violence protection orders could be fitted with electronic ankle monitors with artificial intelligence and GPS technology. If they approach a restricted zone — within 100m of the victim’s residence or workplace, for example — or come into contact with the victim, the device could immediately emit an alarm or a warning reminding the applicant to take protective measures or seek assistance from passersby to report the incident. At the same time, the device would automatically report back to the relevant authorities to protect the parties involved.
Wang Hsiang-cheng is a civil servant.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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