The Taiwan Bar Association yesterday said it is teaming up with women’s groups to provide free legal counsel to #MeToo accusers, citing concerns that defamation laws are being used to silence victims of sexual abuse.
Accusers face tremendous pressure and social stigma that they are only seeking attention, National Alliance of Taiwanese Women’s Associations chairwoman Peng Yen-wen (彭渰雯) told a news conference at the Taiwan Women’s Center in Taipei.
Victims who go public with their accusations are often tried by the court of public opinion as well as the court of law, as abusers frequently use the considerable financial expenses associated with protracted litigation to intimidate their accusers, she said.
Photo: CNA
The project is a collaboration between women’s rights groups and lawyers to shield sexual abuse victims from frivolous or vindictive lawsuits, she said.
The project’s legal team consisting of more than 40 attorneys can be reached by calling (02) 8911-5595, and businesses can request a consultation on handling workplace sexual harassment by calling (02) 2388-3619, its spokesperson said.
The Garden of Eden Foundation saw a fivefold increase in sexual harassment complaints after it set up a hotline early last month, executive director Wang Yue-hao (王玥好) said.
Callers consistently expressed fears that they would not be believed and often asked for nothing more than a sympathetic ear, she said, adding that the legal advocacy project is intended as a remedy to systematic and institutional biases against victims.
Citing a survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor last year, Awakening Foundation secretary-general Chyn Yu-rung (覃玉蓉) said that 78.79 percent of working women reported being harassed at work without ever filing a complaint.
This figure suggests there is a lack of trust by women in their complaints being fairly investigated by the justice system and corporate workplace, she said.
The Awakening Foundation received numerous calls from corporations asking about possible steps they can take to protect employees from harassment following the rise of the #MeToo movement in Taiwan, she said.
The government should furnish the personnel and guidelines that businesses need to realize workplace gender equality, Wang said, adding that prevention and enforcement are equally important in curbing inappropriate behavior.
Neil Pan (潘天慶), a member of the legal team, said that #MeToo accusers are typically in an unequal power relationship with their alleged abusers, meaning that legal protections against reputational damage need to be recalibrated in cases revolving around abuse.
The courts should exercise caution in dealing with defamation cases around allegations of sexual abuse to avoid the weaponization of the law by abusers, he said, adding that awarding exorbitant damages would have a chilling effect on victims.
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