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Foreign brides need everybody's help

A worker from the Garden of Hope Foundation performs in a drama depicting abuse of foreign brides during a press conference yesterday. PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

The public should treat foreign brides as equals and should provide more help to those suffering from domestic violence, the Garden of Hope Foundation said yesterday.

The foundation released a study in which 12 abused female brides from Southeast Asian countries and China were interviewed. It also staged a short drama to illustrate the abuse suffered by the spouses.

In the drama, the character A-chuan is subjected to constant scolding by her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law and other family members repeatedly say within earshot that A-juan is a purchased bride.

The mother-in-law even forbids A-chuan to get in touch with their neighbors, fearing that A-chuan might learn what is going on around her and how to protect herself.

Meanwhile, A-chuan's husband associates with her merely as a means to satisfy his sexual desires and out of an obligation to reproduce.

He threatens to beat her if she does not obey his orders.

Associate Professor Mo Li-li (莫藜藜) from Soochow University's Department of Social Work and supervisor for the foundation's women's service center in Wanhua district, said the drama was by no means exaggerating the problem.

Foundation director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said that she knew of a case in eastern Taiwan in which a foreign spouse had been beaten to death after being abused for more than ten years.

The foundation's study discovered that a 17-year-old Cambodian spouse had been beaten as early as three days after she arrived in the country, simply because she had asked whether she could go home after six months to visit her family.

"Domestic violence usually occurs a year after the wedding," said Liao Hsueh-chen (廖雪貞), director of the Wanhua service center.

"A major reason that domestic violence is experienced by female foreign spouses is hostility from the husband's family. The lack of affection between the husband and the wife and the wife's inability to communicate with other people are also possible causes," Liao said.

The study also found that only one of the 12 couples interviewed had married out of love.

Liao said that in dealing with domestic violence of this nature, both informal support from friends and neighbors of abused women and formal help from the government were necessary.

Chi added that to prevent domestic violence, the government should amend laws to grant more rights to foreign brides.

The government should also implement a "support and rescue system," she said.

Chi urged the public to give a hand to those being abused when encountering such a situation.

"Taiwanese society should strive to be a salad bowl instead of a melting pot, to have and appreciate various cultures in the same community and allow them to maintain their own characteristics," she said.

According to the interior ministry, 783 abuse cases involving Chinese spouses have been reported so far this year, which amounts to 2.75 percent of all domestic violence cases.

There were also 674 cases of abuse involving Southeast Asian spouses from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
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