A 13-year-old girl who won a two-year legal battle to force her biological father to pay the costs of her education and living expenses refused to go home yesterday following four days of protest outside the Taipei District Court in downtown Taipei.
Yesterday was the fourth day Hsiao-tsu (小慈), and her mother, Chia Kuan-yu (賈關榆), had camped outside the Taipei District Court to protest against the judge who has ruled in her favor, but failed to ask the accused to pay Hsiao-tsu the money awarded before the case is closed. The case is currently on appeal at the Taipei District Court.
"We don't know what we're going to do next. My daughter made the decision on her own to come here. I don't know whether I'll be able to make her leave," Chia told reporters after a one-hour, closed-door meeting with the director of the Taipei District Court, Huang Wen-luan, yesterday morning.
Before the meeting, Huang told the reporters that although she empathized with Hsiao-tsu, it would be more appropriate for her to solve the problem in a court of law rather than by staging protests.
Huang also said that she was in no position whatsoever to punish either the judge who had made the ruling or anyone who might rule against Hsiao-tsu in the future.
Apparently upset by the outcome of the meeting, Hsiao-tsu, who attends Chin Hua Junior High School (金華國中), buried her head in her hands and cried at her desk after the meeting. She refused to talk with the media and went outside to continue her demonstration.
Last Friday, Hsiao-tsu started her protest outside the Taipei District Court and criticized the judge for "failing to ask the accused to pay the money before the case is closed."
"We haven't been able to pay our NT$7,000 monthly rent for 11 months," said Chia, who has been unemployed for more than 10 years and is living on social welfare.
Two years ago Hsiao-tsu took her biological father, Chi Min-hsi (紀民喜), to court and asked for NT$15 million to cover the costs of her education and living expenses.
The court ruled in 1999 that Chi should pay Hsiao-tsu, his daughter born out of wedlock, a total of NT$26,000 each month in education expenses starting October last year until May 2008, when ``Hsiao-tsu comes of age.
Chi has not yet, however, paid or been ordered by the court to pay anything since the case is still on appeal.
Hsiao-tsu's case is not an isolated one. According to the Warm Life Association for Women (晚晴協會), a non-profit organization for divorced women, about 10 percent of the some 6,000 women seeking the association's help last year encountered similar financial difficulties.
Wu Yueh-chen (吳月珍), a counselor at the association, highlighted inequalities in the system.
"Take the singer Chi Chin's (齊秦) case for example. It took the court seven months to make a final ruling, but it has taken two years and four judges in Hsiao-tsu's case," she said.
The Awakening Foundation (婦女新知基金會) also found that about 4 percent of the 5,860 calls seeking help from the foundation last year were related to the same problem.
Lai Yu-mei (賴友梅), secretary-general of the foundation, said that although biological fathers are required by law to support their children, including those born out of wedlock, the law specifies no punishment for non-compliance.
"It's sad to see that there are many irresponsible men out there who refuse to pay alimony to their divorced wives, or the living and educational expenses of their illegitimate children, and that they can still get away with it," she said.
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