The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved draft amendments to the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act, Act of Gender Equality in Employment, and Gender Equity Education Act. The proposed amendments will now be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.
Premier Chen Chien-jen said that in recent months a continuous succession of people have come forward from all sectors of society to reveal their past experiences of suffering sexual harassment. Hearing these accounts has brought the premier anguish and sorrow, and he said the government is duty-bound to address this issue at once.
The premier said the proposed amendments make significant progress toward the creation of a new generation of sexual harassment prevention measures, placing the protection of victims front and center. The amendments aim to strengthen effective punishments and deterrents for perpetrators; create comprehensive, victim-friendly rights protections and services; and establish a professional and dependable anti-sexual harassment system. The amendments will enable the government to adopt a unified approach that combines forces across different disciplines, professions and government departments to build an effective, friendly and reliable prevention network.