Alexis Tam ‘shocked’ by alleged UM sexual harassment cases

The Secretary of Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, said that he was “shocked” by the number of alleged sexual harassment cases involving faculty members of the University of Macau (UM), and has urged the UM administration to provide an explanation to the public.
“I am shocked because there is more than one [alleged sexual harassment] case. There were three in the previous year, which means there were four cases in total. I believe that the UM administration has to be quick and stringent in giving an explanation to the public, including and especially to their superiors, namely the Secretariat of Social Affairs and Culture,” he said.
Moreover, Mr Tam stated that UM should draft a protocol for handling sexual harassment complaints, like other top ranking universities in the world. “The university needs to be on the same level as the international community. This means that if other world-renowned universities have this protocol, I believe that UM should develop one as well,” he said.
Nevertheless, the secretary did not answer on whether the government would publish the results of the investigation into the alleged UM sexual harassment cases, claiming that it depends on the victims’ consent, while adding that his department needs to seek legal opinions.
Meanwhile, after days of silence, UM rector Zhao Wei finally told several selected local media representatives in a meeting on Thursday that there have been a total of four sexual harassment allegations filed against UM faculty members since he took office in 2008. According to Macau Daily, three of the four cases emerged in the second half of last year and dated back to around two to three years ago. Zhao said that the three new cases were still in the preliminary stages of investigation, and that he would decide whether to form an independent disciplinary and investigation committee or to organize a public hearing, depending on the seriousness of the cases.
As Secretary Alexis Tam’s suggestion that government officials should keep in close contact with the media, Zhao said that he would try hard to coordinate with the media, but stressed the need for him to consider his own schedule as well.  JPL