Taiwan women pessimistic about their personal safety

Most women in Taiwan do not have a strong sense of security, according to a poll titled "indexes of Taiwanese women's sense of security in 2001" released by the KMT's organizational development committee (組織發展委員會) and the National Policy Founda-tion (國家政策研究基金會) yesterday morning.

The poll addressed issues related to personal and public safety, economic stability, the government's administration and also the future.

A group of 1,107 women over the age of 20 were randomly selected to participate in the survey. Concerning their overall sense of security within their environment, the women surveyed gave a low score of 55.81. They also indicated that they have little confidence that the government will make efforts to address women's personal safety issues in the future.

The poll suggests that 81.1 percent of the women interviewed think public safety is lacking, and 64.9 percent feel their environment is less safe than last year.

Regarding the economic environment, 51.6 percent believe females still have trouble finding a job. And 59.9 percent find it harder to find jobs compared with last year.

As for personal safety, nearly 87 percent believe women should avoid going out alone at night or taking a taxi alone; 17.7 percent said they have a relative or a friend who was sexually harassed or assaulted during the past six months; 69.4 percent think women may be watched or secretly taped in public lavatories; 82.4 percent say they still suffer from domestic violence; and 88.8 percent think it is common for women to be robbed of personal belongings.

When asked about their predictions for the future, 67 percent think the number of unemployed women will increase in the next six months; 43.5 percent believe the government will step up protection for women in the coming six months; and 46.8 percent do not believe public safety will be improved.

According to the poll, young single women are less confident about the future than their older married counterparts.

The NPF's convener for social security, Chan Ho-sheng (詹火生), said he is concerned with the results of the poll and that he hopes people will show more concern and respect toward women.