Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said Friday that it has initiated a program to provide support, help and protection to people whose intimate videos or photos are posted on an internet site without their consent.

The perpetrators in such cases are often strangers to the victim, but sometimes they can be a former or current partner, the ministry said.

In the period January to July this year, 68 percent of the cyber sexual abuse offenders identified in Taiwan were strangers to the victims, the health ministry said, citing its own statistics.

Meanwhile, 61 percent of cyber sexual abuse victims are too scared to report the problem, the ministry said.

At the launch of the support program on Friday, Deputy Health Minister Lee Li-feng (???) said the victims often do not seek help because they worried about the possible harm to their social reputation if they report such abuse.

They also tend to feel scared, alone, and unsupported, and they think there is no way to have their intimate images removed from the internet, she said at the press conference.

Against that background, the MOHW said, its Department of Protective Services is partnering with the international platform Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse (StopNCII) to assist and support victims of cyber sexual abuse.

Under the program, victims of cyber sexual abuse will be given assistance to seek the right channels of justice, to obtain support and counseling, and to remove their intimate visual content from the internet, the ministry said.

According to MOHW data, most victims in Taiwan are between the ages of 19 and 25.

The data shows that 74 percent of all cyber sexual abuse victims in Taiwan are females, and 22 percent males.

Cyber sexual abuse is prohibited under Taiwan’s Criminal Code, Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act, and Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, according to the MOHW.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel