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.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS