TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is currently experiencing its own #MeToo movement with allegations of sexual harassment appearing daily on social media.

In April, Netflix released Wave Makers, a TV drama following Taiwanese political staff as they prepare for an election campaign. One of the storylines sees a young female aide report an incident of harassment to her supervisor, who decides that although it could harm the party’s image, they must do something about it.

Defiantly, the female supervisor says "Let’s not just let this go," which has been quoted numerous times online, most notably on May 31 by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) staffer Chen Chien-jou (陳汘瑈) in a Facebook post, revealing an incident that occurred at a work event. Many people attribute Chen with igniting Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) publicly apologizing twice for the party’s failure to support her.

In the months following, Taiwan has seen hundreds of allegations leveled against high-profile politicians, academics, sportspeople, the list goes on. The majority of these allegations have been made on social media, often alongside the hashtag #MeToo, echoing the movement in America in 2017, following revelations about Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault and misconduct.

32-year-old filmmaker Frankie Li (李祈悅 ) spoke to Taiwan News about her own contribution to the #MeToo movement. A year after she experienced sexual harassment, Li was encouraged by online discussion to make her experience known to her followers on Instagram and Facebook.

Her posts about the misconduct she was subjected to by two colleagues at a Taipei nightclub have divided her followers, with some friends asking, "Why now?" while others have been supportive. Li said that her story is not intended to "ruin the lives" of her former colleagues, rather she hopes they can see the error in their ways and that others in the industry may be warned against committing the same acts. In addition, she wants businesses and venues to take better responsibility and provide resources for their staff.

She told Taiwan News that she was afraid about the future, particularly for young women. Discussing her five-year-old niece, Li said, "I don’t want her to grow up to hate men," but with the bleakness of the current climate, she feels this is likely.

So the question arises: What happens next? What can Taiwan do to change the culture surrounding sexual harassment and move forward?

First, in order for the #MeToo movement to have a lasting impact, lawmakers and organizations must work together to create more effective legislation, Deputy CEO of the Garden of Hope Foundation Wang Shu-fen (王淑芬) explained. Wang said the Act of Gender Equality in Employment is ineffective, with some 250,000 people reported being sexually harassed at work in the past year, according to a survey by the Ministry of Labour (MOL) in March, per CNA.

One of the major problems with the law is that it orders employers to take disciplinary action but does not account for when the employer is also the one accused of sexual misconduct, according to Wang. "A player doubling as the referee does not make a fair game," Wang said.

Women’s rights groups are lobbying for legal amendments under the MOL or local government bureaus to provide a mechanism for employees to turn to if they are dissatisfied with their company’s response to sexual harassment complaints. In addition to new legislation, resources should be centered on supporting victims through the psychological effects of sexual harassment and assault once the current social media storm inevitably dies down.

Chen Yi-Chien (陳宜倩), a gender studies professor at Shih Hsin University, explained, "Sexual assault crimes will not disappear, but we need more gender equality education and a well-rounded mechanism to handle complaints so that it will lead to a pivotal structural change in Taiwanese society in the future," per Japan Times. While Taiwan is ahead of other Asian countries in many aspects of gender equality, such as being the first to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019, the #MeToo movement shows there is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality.