Sexual Harassment Legislation in Taiwan

Implications for Japanese Law from Taiwan’s three gender equality laws

Abstract

Taiwan’s three gender equality laws (the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act, the Gender Equality in Employment Act, and the Gender Equality in Education Act) are based on the principle of “gender equality” and regulate sexual harassment in three areas: the workplace, schools, and other settings. The term “gender” here does is not based on he traditional binary framework of male and female based on physical characteristics, but rather is defined as a concept that encompasses the multi-layered nature of individual sexuality, including gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual characteristics, and gender expression. The three gender equality laws aim to establish a system that ensures effectiveness of victim support by involving experts throughout the entire process—from prevention to post-incident response and recurrence prevention—and by constructing operational frameworks under their advisory guidance.