A public outcry in Taiwan broke out in late December after a sexual assault case at a McDonald’s, which resulted in the victim committing suicide. McDonald’s is accused of inaction, which has led to a consumer boycott against the fast food chain...
In 2023, a watershed moment emerged in Taiwan’s #MeToo movement with the resounding success of the Netflix series “Wave Makers.” The show’s resonance was profound, shedding light on sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace. This spotlight inspired survivors from politics, education, arts, and entertainment to break their silence...
The #MeToo movement has been claimed as a global movement that connects women in the global North and the global South. Nonetheless, the MeToo movement must always confront various local social, economic, and cultural relations when it spreads across the globe. It also demands social, legal, and even material infrastructures to materialise. Global South countries that fail to deliver the MeToo movement might relate to the lack of efficient internet infrastructure and the taboo of talking about sex in public (e.g. Bangladesh), freedom of speech (e.g. China), or severe social stratification such as India in which the MeToo movement only circulated among the rich and well-educated elite women...
A short three months after a wave of #MeToo cases swept across the Taiwanese political landscape, it proves a question as to whether there have been genuine changes in social attitudes in the aftermath of these cases. Certainly, there has been no shortage of commentary on the matter, and the legislature responded by passing amendments to Taiwan’s “Three Gender Equality laws.” But whether there are lasting changes remains to be seen...
On May 31st, 2023, a Facebook post by a former DPP staffer ignited the long-smouldering embers of Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, illuminating local issues of sexual harassment and assault originally left behind by the 2017-2018 global #MeToo movement...
Five years after the global #MeToo movement began, Taiwan has finally started its own. It began with a wave of sexual assault claims against several members of Taiwan’s ruling DPP. While those alleged in the DPP have resigned, these claims led to allegations against others beyond the political sphere. Since May, more than 100 politicians, activists, intellectuals, and celebrities have been called out for their misconduct. The #MeToo movement has garnered much media attention and has been discussed widely...
There is a common misconception that Green Parties are solely concerned with environmental issues. However, the Charter of the Global Greens, which sets out the core guiding values for Green Parties, shows that these parties have a very diverse and comprehensive set of transformative goals. One distinguishing feature of Green Parties is their promotion of gender equality. A recent study on European political parties found that Green Parties tend to be more feminist than their party system competitors. But do such findings hold when we examine Green Parties in newer democracies and beyond Europe? Are Asian Greens more feminist in their policy advocacy, leadership and candidate selection and in the way they deal with cases of sexual harassment?...
Taiwan is home to draconian libel and slander laws, which those with the resources to afford can use liberally and which have in the past been utilized against journalists, contributing to the lowest confidence in the press in a democratic country. As the #MeToo movement in Taiwan plays out, many well-known figures with high social status that have been accused choose to sue their accusers publicly and demand substantial compensation in an attempt to suppress controversy through litigation...
Two months after the wave of #MeToo cases that began in late May, amendments were proposed and passed during the month of July to Taiwan’s “Three Gender Equality Laws”: more specifically, amendments to the Gender Equity Education Act were passed on July 28th, and amendments to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act were passed on July 31st...
Despite the implementation of the Gender Equality in Employment Act for 21 years, there has been a failure to effectively prevent and address workplace sexual harassment in accordance with the law...
