The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday denied a local media report that it was considering exempting people convicted of sexual harassment from penalties if they take a gender equity course and pass a test.
Asked by reporters about the issue before a meeting at the Legislative Yuan, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said: “There is no such thing. It is purely speculation.”
The ministry will not rule out taking legal actions against people who spread the rumor, he added.
Photo: CNA
At a separate event, Department of Protective Services Director-General Chang Hsiu-yuan (張秀鴛) said that sexual harassment prevention workers in mid-April held a two-day forum on sexual violence prevention.
During the discussion, there was a suggestion that sexual harassment perpetrators be required to take hours of counseling courses, and pass a test to correct their misconceptions about gender equity and possibly be exempted from penalties detailed in Article 27 of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法), Chang said.
However, participants at the forum did not reach a consensus, nor did they make any policy suggestions to the ministry, she added.
Moreover, the department issued a news release reiterating that according to Article 27, “a person who sexually harasses another person by abusing power” may be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$600,000 (US$2,003 to US$20,035) by the local competent authorities, while those who harass others in any manner other than abuse of power could be fined NT$10,000 to NT$100,000, Chang said.
Chiu was also asked to comment on a report that hospital emergency rooms are rapidly losing doctors, and that more are expected to leave if their working conditions do not improve.
The ministry has continuously been making efforts to improve the working conditions of doctors and nurses in emergency rooms, Chiu said, outlining three methods that it has adopted to address the issue.
First, hospitals reallocating hospital beds; second, regional cooperation and thoroughly implementing a hierarchy of medical care; and third, increasing National Health Insurance (NHI) payment for healthcare workers, he said.
More than NT$4 billion in NHI payment for emergency healthcare services was allocated last month, and it is to be distributed starting this month, he said, adding that the ministry hopes that emergency room healthcare workers can receive reasonable pay and a better work environment.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
Tropical Storm Mekkhala is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon tomorrow and could come close enough to Taiwan later in the week to prompt a sea warning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2 pm, the storm was located 1,870 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's southern tip and moving west- northwest at 23 km per hour. CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said Mekkhala is expected to continue moving west-northwest through Tuesday under the influence of the Pacific high- pressure system before gradually turning north toward waters east of Taiwan or south of the Ryukyu Islands. The timing and angle of the
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
RSS