Women's group calls for tighter surveillance after rape case at Taipei Station

Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) The Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) on Wednesday called on the city government to improve its safety surveillance systems and encourage bystander intervention, in the wake of a sexual assault case at Taipei Main Station last week.

The incident occurred on Oct. 9, when a man allegedly pushed an intoxicated woman against a wall and raped her. No one intervened until a foreign traveler called the police, according to sources.

The Railway Police received a report of the assault at 4:22 p.m. and arrested the man while he was in the act.

The man was transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office for questioning, then taken to the Taipei Detention Center, prosecutors said.

According to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, the suspect was a convicted fugitive wanted for two counts of theft.

In a statement issued jointly with the Judicial Reform Foundation, the TWRF said that the incident occurred in a public space where there were multiple surveillance cameras, which indicated that the safety monitoring mechanisms had failed.

The two groups called on the city government to review and improve its public safety systems. For example, bystander assistance alarm bells could be installed and speedy notification instructions posted, they said.

They also advocated for better public education and suggested that bystanders should be encouraged to intervene if they witness incidents of sexual assault.

Members of the public should be encouraged to shout, notify workers on the scene, call the police, or report the abuse on the National Police Agency's "110 Video Report App," the groups said.

They said news outlets can also help by seeking to uncover the truth and promoting systemic reform rather than chase views. News organizations should avoid using footage of such incidents, as that could lead to secondary trauma and imitation, the groups said.

Similarly, the public is advised not to share such footage or engage in victim-blaming, the groups said, asking media platforms to reject any such actions that encourage gender-based violence.

On Wednesday, the Taipei City Department of Social Welfare said that the suspect was not a homeless person, as has been speculated. It called on members of the public to refrain from labeling and stigmatizing homeless people.

The department said it keeps a registry of homeless individuals in the city. Social workers visit the roughly 200 people in the Taipei Main Station area daily, and cross-departmental nighttime visits are made twice a month to improve management and counseling efforts, the department said.