President Tsai Ing-wen has signed a bill designed to help protect victims of stalking. The signing ceremony took place just after the 25th anniversary of a notorious murder that such a law might have been able to help prevent.
With the stroke of a pen, President Tsai Ing-wen has granted victims of stalking a means of legal recourse. Under the new Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act, which she signed Wednesday, police can intervene early to help victims of a variety of harassing behaviors, including harassment online.
Violators of the law can face fines and jail time, and, should they ignore police warnings, get hit with a two-year restraining order as well.
Tsai called the law an important step in preventing gender-based violence. She cited the 1996 murder of Peng Wan-ru, a prominent women’s rights activist and a politician from Tsai’s own Democratic Progressive Party, as a case this kind of law could have prevented.
But Peng’s case is only one of the more high-profile murders that such a law may have helped deter. This particular bill gained much of its steam after the murder of another woman in Pingtung County this April at the hands of a man who’d stalked her for two months.
Tsai called on the police force to quickly train its officers in enforcing the act. She said the government will continue working to ensure that all citizens enjoy a safer, more secure life.