Chapter 534: The women’s business conference (3)
Faced with this question, many women paid attention to what Qin Meng’s answer would be. One could not indiscriminately record another individual as they wished. If they did as she said, wouldn’t they be opening themselves up to being sued?
Qin Meng looked thoughtful for a while, stumped even because the law was rather strict when it came to privacy and its invasion. "Mmm, think about it this way, I am not recording them rather I am recording myself. There is no law forbidding an individual from recording themselves in any capacity." She responded without referring to any specific laws.
Someone else raised their hand with another question. Rize looked at Qin Meng for direction and when she nodded that woman was given a microphone.
"Hello, I am Su Ri and I am very happy to be here. My issue is that recently a wife sued her husband for checking her phone without her permission. The wife won this case and her husband had to pay compensation in monetary terms despite the fact that he discovered that his wife was having an affair through this act. If I am recording myself and capture someone else does this mean they can sue me for infringing on their privacy even if they were in wrong?"
A few people mumbled and the chatter in the room increased a little bit. Everyone had heard about the case because it was the first of it’s kind in the empire and the ruling was outrageous as well. It had been a hot issue last month and attorneys, law makers and politicians were debating about it. There was a rumor that the judge was about to lose his seat for passing such a ridiculous judgement which had opened a can of worms for the lawyers, police and other judges.
"Ha-ha," Qin Meng laughed lightly. "This is not a law debate and I cannot give you a clear answer on an issue that our empire’s law makers are still debating. What I can say is that if you are uncomfortable with using such means then warn that person you are meeting in advance. I think everyone here knows what a Miranda warning is, even if it has not been personally read to you its common in detective dramas and movies. You are under arrest for the crime of so and so and you have the right to remain silent until your attorney arrives. When you are meeting an individual you don’t trust warn them, I have a recording device on me so you have the right to remain silent. If they are genuine and mean you no harm then there is no reason to turn off the recorder. If you are finally comfortable turn it off and if the other person makes a request and it’s fine by you turn it off. Circumstances are not always the same but ultimately the decision is in your hands. Your protection is not the responsibility of someone else, its yours. I will not be taking any legal questions because we have police officers in the room so approach them with those questions." Qin Meng had to stop them because she saw three more hands up. The hands went down and she continued talking, "Self defense classes are very important ladies, always remember that we are the weaker sex and no recording device will save you from being assaulted by a brute that outweighs you by fifty or more pounds. My favorite women in the entertainment world are the stuntwomen. They are usually the best trained fighters and most professional people you can ever meet in our line of work. Sadly they are also the least recognized in our work because their roles are not assigned value. I know more than six female actresses that have been harassed and zero stuntwomen because if you try anything, they defend themselves, ruthlessly sometimes. I have seen this with my own eyes, this stuntwoman broke a man’s hand on set for grabbing her buttocks."
A random applause followed that description, "Good for her." Someone shouted.
Qin Meng talked about other ways women could protect themselves from sexual harassment at the work place for thirty minutes. Finally she concluded by telling them to be safe out there and wishing them luck.
To her greatest surprise, even the police officers clapped for her because some of the advise she gave the women were things they echoed regularly when they went around in community centers teaching about sexual harassment as part of their duties. Women should know how to defend themselves against predators, president Qin was right about their security being in their own hands before anything else.
"Another round of applause for president Qin Meng." Rize returned to the stage to do her duties.
After that applause, she continued on to say, "Our next speaker is also a business woman. Her business not extremely big as compared to some of our speakers and her name is not known to many here, but nevertheless her boundless knowledge and experience of twenty years will be useful to many of us here. Please join me in welcoming Miss Wei Yuesong."