The Sexual Assault Prevention Council under the Ministry of the Interior yesterday announced its plan to amend the Anti-Sexual Assault Law to liberalize restrictions that prevent the media from naming or otherwise identifying the victims of sexual assault.
It was undecided, however, as to exactly what the amendment would say.
"Moderately exposing information about significant cases of sexual assault would make the public less nervous and enhance their sense of security," Lin Tzu-ling (
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Lin, however, did not explain what she meant by "moderately exposing," only saying, "the matter is still under discussion."
Article 10 of the law -- the article the council proposes to amend -- states that media organizations are prohibited from reporting the victims' names and any related information that would make the public recognize the victims, unless the victims agree to be made known. Media organizations found violating the article could be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000.
"We will submit the amendment to the Executive Yuan in the coming weeks," Lin added.
The amendment was approved by the Executive Yuan two years ago, but was not reviewed by the Legislative Yuan.
Lin was reacting to a dispute between the central government and Taipei City Government, following the arrest Wednesday of two suspects in the sexual assault and murder eight years ago of a primary school teacher, the only daughter of Keelung City Police Commissioner Wu Chen-chi (吳振吉).
City complaints
Media reports on Wu's press conference Wednesday, during which Wu released his daughter's name, were questioned by the city government yesterday morning.
Following the release of a statement, however, by the Anti-Sexual Assault Council stating that the council intended to propose the amendment to allow for limited coverage of such cases, the city government backed down.
"Since there is a lot of vagueness regarding the case, we respect the central government's decision," city official Shen Yung-hwa (
The city government's information department had been preparing yesterday to charge the newspapers registered in Taipei City that published the victim's name, and work and family details in yesterday's editions with violations of Article 10 of the Anti-Sexual Assault Law.
The Sexual Harassment Prevention Council, however, saw nothing wrong with the media reports.
"The victim is dead already, and her father held a press conference, which can be considered as her family's agreement on the reporting," Lin said.
Appropriate reporting
The Criminal Investigation Bureau under the National Police Admin-istration, which held the press conference at which the arrests were announced Wednesday evening, also issued a press release stating that media reports on the case should not be considered a violation of the article.
"The case attracted a lot of attention eight years ago and the victim's father is a senior police officer. We think that moderate reporting is necessary," the release states.
The Anti-Sexual Harassment Law was introduced in 1996. Media organizations have since then observed the law by not reporting the full names of victims.
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