Amendments to three gender equality acts have come into effect in Taiwan to better protect people who have experienced sexual harassment. The changes aim to ensure they get sufficient legal help and counseling services.
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00:00 Amendment to Taiwan's gender equality laws are coming into effect on Friday, which is International Women's Day.
00:05 Joyce Sun joins us live in Taipei with the details. Joyce, what exactly are these new measures?
00:11 Some considerable progress here in Taiwan and its fight towards gender equality.
00:17 Three amendments are coming into effect to better protect victims against sexual harassment.
00:22 And it's no coincidence it's happening today, as you mentioned, on International Women's Day.
00:27 Women's rights has been in the spotlight here ever since last summer,
00:31 when a string of #MeToo cases came to light, spanning across the political sphere,
00:36 to schools and to the entertainment industry.
00:38 And now these changes to the law are hoping to protect all victims of harassment, not just women.
00:45 And one area of focus is the workplace.
00:47 Data from activist groups show that almost half of all harassment cases happen at work.
00:53 In the past, most of Taiwan's companies were too small to be legally required to have formal anti-harassment measures.
01:02 But these changes to the law will apply to companies with as few as 10 people compared to the previous 30.
01:08 And so it's hoped that it will protect more people under this amendment.
01:12 So what's the response been to these changes? How are people reacting to them?
01:19 Well, some activists are worried that these amendments may actually have the opposite effect for some victims.
01:25 These amendments will be more clearly defining sexual harassment.
01:29 And, for example, the head of the Modern Women's Foundation said that by laying it out this strictly,
01:35 it might actually make it harder for some victims to seek legal assistance,
01:39 because the scope has become much more narrow.
01:42 But with more pressure on the government to introduce protections,
01:46 because of Taiwan's widely reported #MeToo movement last year,
01:50 which involved some high-profile people,
01:52 it's an important first step to protecting more people.
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