Taipei Times
Date: Aug 24, 2018
By: Chung Li-hua / Staff reporter
Control Yuan members Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) and Lin Ya-feng (林雅鋒) on Wednesday said they would apply to launch an investigation into judge training programs for sexual assault cases, as the conviction rate in such cases is low and punishments tend to be light.
According to sexual assault and harassment case statistics from 2013 to 2016, of the defendants who were in a more powerful position than the plaintiff, only 38 were convicted — 1.58 percent of all such lawsuits during the period, Wang and Lin said in a statement, adding that most suspects were sentenced to only six to 12 months in prison.
When there is a power imbalance, victims are less likely to seek help for fear of retaliation and it is more difficult to collect evidence, they said.
Judges handling such cases need to be more sensitive to the victims’ vulnerable position, they said. [FULL STORY]