To eliminate sexual harassment in the medical workplace, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health and Welfare have established an inter-ministerial reporting mechanism

The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health and Welfare have joined forces to strengthen the prevention and control mechanism of sexual harassment in medical institutions.

[Reporter Li Jinghui/Taipei Report] In order to prevent anyone from using their professional or power advantages to engage in sexual harassment in the medical field and harm the rights and interests of medical-related practitioners or patients, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health and Welfare will cooperate with the inter-ministerial committee to investigate cases of sexual harassment in the workplace of medical institutions.

The Ministry of Labor pointed out that when a medical institution receives a complaint or becomes aware of sexual harassment, it should take immediate and effective corrective and remedial measures in accordance with the Gender Equality Work Act, including preventing the recurrence of sexual harassment, providing necessary consultation and assistance to the victim, initiating investigation procedures and appropriately punishing the offender to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

In addition, considering the particularity of medical personnel, if a medical personnel is determined to be involved in a gender-related incident, it may constitute various grounds for punishment or sanction under the Medical Personnel Act, such as “taking advantage of professional opportunities to commit crimes,” “performing business contrary to medical ethics,” and “unfair business conduct.” Therefore, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health and Welfare have cooperated through an inter-ministerial meeting, and the two ministries have written letters to local governments. In response to workplace sexual harassment cases investigated and established in medical institutions, the labor administrative authorities will provide relevant information to the health authorities as soon as possible. After the health authorities confirm that the perpetrators are practicing medical personnel, they will initiate medical management measures in accordance with the provisions of various medical personnel laws to protect the rights and interests of patients or other institutional employees.

The Ministry of Labor reminds that when medical institutions receive complaints from victims, they should proactively fill in the "Workplace Sexual Harassment Case Reporting System". After the investigation of the case is completed, the results of the case should also be reported to the local competent authorities again, and the reporting procedures should be strictly implemented so that the relevant competent authorities can grasp the information and provide immediate counseling.