A guide to harassment disguised as flirting: what it is and how to protect yourself. Produced by the National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior.
The original guide has six pages. This article currently contains the cover and pages 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6; page 2 has yet to be added.
When might flirting amount to harassment?
Online courses often claim to teach people how to approach strangers and quickly build closeness or intimacy. Inappropriate approaches, however, may breach the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act; and where they are directed repeatedly or persistently at a particular person, they may also breach the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act.
Forms of sexual harassment (Article 2 of the Enforcement Rules of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act)
Unwelcome verbal, physical or visual conduct of a sexual or gender-related nature carried out against another person's will, or the use of electronic devices, authority, force, threats or intimidation to make sexually suggestive remarks or demands, including:
- Discriminatory or demeaning conduct
- Stalking or inappropriate pursuit
- Voyeurism and covert filming
- Exposure of private parts
- Sending obscene images, text or recordings
- Physical harassment
- Other conduct of a similar nature to the six categories above
Forms of stalking and harassment (Article 3 of the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act)
Using people, vehicles, tools, equipment, electronic communications, the internet or other means to carry out, repeatedly or persistently and against the will of a specific person, any of the following acts of a sexual or gender-related nature, so as to cause fear and disrupt that person's daily life or social activities:
- Surveillance and observation
- Following and approaching
- Discriminatory or demeaning conduct
- Harassment through communications
- Inappropriate pursuit
- Sending objects
- Damaging reputation
- Misusing personal data
What should you do if you are harassed?
Call 110 for the police or 113 for the protection hotline, or report the matter at your nearest police station. The police will investigate.
Where the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act has been breached, the police may issue a written warning to the person responsible, either on their own initiative or at the victim's request. If that person offends again within two years of receiving the warning, the victim may apply to the court for a protection order.
Penalties
Sexual Harassment Prevention Act
- Article 25: touching another person's chest, buttocks or other private parts by taking advantage of an opportunity carries up to two years' imprisonment, detention, or a fine of up to NT$100,000, or both; where the offence is committed through abuse of power or opportunity, the penalty may be increased by up to one half.
- Article 27: sexually harassing another person carries a fine of between NT$10,000 and NT$100,000; sexual harassment involving abuse of power carries a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$600,000.
Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act
- Article 18: stalking and harassment carries up to one year's imprisonment, detention, or a fine of up to NT$100,000, or both; where committed while carrying a weapon, the penalty is up to five years' imprisonment, detention, or a fine of up to NT$500,000, or both.
