Our vision
In providing services for victims of sexual harassment, GOH has witnessed victims face physical/psychological trauma and financial difficulties. They urgently need the intervention and assistance of professional services such as healthcare, counseling, and social work. Without the support of a social worker during the legal process, victims can become physically and mentally exhausted and are often misunderstood. The difficulties they face are sometimes unbearable.
The current state of government resource distribution in sexual harassment prevention work is concentrated on primary prevention. Victim support services for secondary prevention have yet to be established – only an incident investigation system has been put in place – let alone enhancement of the professional service network to provide in-depth tertiary services (post-trauma recovery).
Sexual harassment prevention is urgent. 2020 data shows that the number of female employees that experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the previous 12 months rose 3.3%, and for male employees the number rose 1.2%. Women experienced workplace sexual harassment at approximately twice the rate of men. In terms of sexual harassment in public spaces, research shows that approximately 46.5% and 26.4% of women and men, respectively, have been sexually harassed.
These statistics demonstrate that the number of women who have experienced sexual harassment is twice that of their male counterparts. As for men, society expects them to hide their weaknesses and not show they are hurt, making men less willing to share about their experiences of sexual assault. GOH has noticed that male victims of sexual harassment commonly have this problem too.
In addition, other research shows that lesbians’ experiences of sexual harassment differ from the experiences of straight women. In 2019, GOH conducted a survey with a focus on LGBTQ+ gender-based violence that shows, from a sample of 2,299 LGBTQ+ people, 365 (15.87%) had been sexually harassed or molested. It is thus clear and should not be ignored that LGBTQ+ people face sexual harassment.
We can see from the above data that not only is sexual harassment common, but gender-based violence is closely related to gender issues. We must make more effort in treating these issues with caution and investing in resources to better carry out services and prevention education.
GOH recognizes the prevalence of sexual harassment. Statistics from the Ministry of Labor show that, from a sample of 4,517 people, 109 women and 14 men experienced workplace sexual harassment within the space of one year. Judging from this data, approximately 2.7% of all employees have been sexually harassed.
According to statistics provided by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the number of privately employed workers in Taiwan is approximately 8 million. Thus, within the space of a year, over 210,000 people in Taiwan were sexually harassed at work. Research goes further in showing that one in three of the total population has been sexually harassed. It is clear that sexual harassment is not something that only happens once in a while. As a result, we must invest more resources in judicial advocacy, victim services, and public education.
How we educate the public
In the past, most public discourse on sexual harassment prevention was tightly interwoven with that of sexual assault. However, the focus and nature of each of these issues are very different. Consequently, GOH has started its own public discourse and promotion of sexual harassment prevention. We conduct general prevention awareness promotion that takes legal differences into consideration so as to create content that suits each audience (such as schools and workplaces). In doing so, we are responding to differing needs and making more effective strides towards our goal of sexual harassment prevention.
In the process of providing our services, GOH has discovered the importance of support bubbles for victims of sexual harassment. Friends and relatives who have a good understanding of these issues can provide invaluable help and support to their loved ones who have been victimized. We thus hope that, by raising public awareness of sexual harassment, we can reduce the likelihood of it happening in the first place. Even more important in the fight to eradicate sexual harassment is the creation of more welcoming environments that are willing to support victims, such as a corporate culture of positive behavior and support networks of loved ones.
Legal and policy advocacy
In addition to public education promotion, GOH also strongly advocates for the amendment of relevant laws, which will allow victims of sexual harassment to receive support in a welcoming legal environment and take the first steps on the road to recovery.