The Ministry of Education is to improve the report mechanism for sexual harassment at schools, the ministry said, adding that it encourages students to come forward and report incidents.
Deputy Minister of Education Tsai Ching-hwa (蔡清華) made the remarks on Wednesday after watching the movie The Silent Forest (無聲), which is based on the true story of sexual assault cases against hearing-impaired students at the National Tainan Special School.
In the movie, faculty at the school attempt to cover up incidents instead of reporting it to the police.
Photo courtesy of CATCHPLAY via CNA
Tsai said that the Criminal Code mandates that faculty must report an incident within 24 hours of finding out about alleged harassment, adding that those who fail to report an incident would be fined NT$30,000 to NT$150,000.
Schools should also step up measures against sexual harassment and raise students’ and parents’ awareness of the matter, and how they can contribute, he added.
“Together, we can prevent more incidents of sexual assault and harassment,” Tsai said.
The movie highlighted the naivete of students regarding sexual assault, Tsai said, citing a scene in which a character in the movie says: “It was just for fun.”
School curricula should include information on sexual and physical autonomy, Tsai said.
Movie director Ko Chen-nian (柯貞年) expressed the hope that the movie would provide “food for thought” regarding the issue, instead of provoke criticism of its topic as being too sensitive.
Ko said she was touched when movie-goers came to her to share their reflections on the issue or even their own experiences with sexual harassment.
Actor Liu Kuan-ting (劉冠廷), playing the character in the movie who reports the incidents, said he hoped that more people would act as the character and come forward if they have knowledge of incidents of sexual harassment.
Actor Liu Tzu-chuan (劉子銓) said that the title of the movie should entice people to not remain silent and report incidents to the authorities.
While the antiparasitic drug ivermectin is being touted as a treatment for COVID-19 in many parts of the world, Taiwanese experts on Monday warned against regular use of the drug in COVID-19 treatment, citing a lack of solid evidence. “Following an experts’ meeting, we do not recommend regular use of ivermectin in treating COVID-19 due to the lack of enough evidence,” said Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), convener of the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) expert advisory panel. A report in the American Journal of Therapeutics said that meta-analyses based on 18 randomized controlled treatment trials of ivermectin in COVID-19 patients had found large,
CLASSES HALTED: Cram schools have had to return tuition fees due to mandatory closures and might need to lay off half of their staff because of a lack of revenue The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the education sector, with some cram schools and tutoring centers saying they might soon be unable to pay their instructors due to the extension of a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert. The heightened alert level means schools must remain closed, so cram schools and tutoring centers have had to return tuition fees, one cram school said. June is normally the peak season for recruiting new students at cram schools and tutoring centers, but this year many such schools might need to lay off half of their staff due to a lack of
A person who was on Friday reported as the first in Taiwan to die after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine died of a heart attack, a Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) official said yesterday. The deceased, whose sex and age were not disclosed, had coronary artery disease, which led to a fatal heart attack, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, told a news conference, citing the autopsy report. It was the first death listed as a possible adverse event after receiving the AstraZenenca COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the vaccination program on March 22. The
PARTY LINES: Just 28.1% of respondents said they were willing to get a local vaccine, including 52.8% of DPP voters and 48.6% of Taiwan Statebuilding Party voters Sixty-two percent of Taiwanese disapprove of the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) progress in obtaining COVID-19 vaccines, while 65.6 percent said that they would not take domestic vaccines that lack WHO certification, a poll released yesterday by Trend Survey and Research and commissioned by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) found. Trend Survey general manager Wu Shih-chang (吳世昌) announced the results of the survey with TPP officials at a virtual news conference, adding that 41.3 percent of respondents said that they highly disapproved of the center’s efforts to secure vaccines. About 68.6 percent of the respondents agreed that the country should rely on
RSS