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Survey reveals many women feel unsafe

The results of a survey released yesterday showed that, despite the best efforts of legislators, many women around the country still feel unsafe in public places.

A women's rights activist organization, the Modern Women's Foundation (MWF), conducted a survey in which they asked 811 women over the age of 13 for their opinions on personal safety.

"During the past 10 years, the legislature ? has tried to improve the personal safety of women and promote gender equality, so we wanted to know how women in Taiwan feel," said Chang Chin-li (張錦麗), executive director of the foundation.

Among the laws passed were the Sexual Assault Prevention Law (性侵害防治法), the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (家庭暴力防治法), the Gender Equality Employment Law (兩性平等工作法) and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法).

"However, we were disappointed by the outcome [of the survey]," Chang said.

The top three concerns cited by respondents include 76.7 percent who feared harassment while taking public transportation, 83 percent who worried about hidden cameras in fitting rooms or public toilets and 83.2 percent who were concerned about sexual assault by taxi drivers.

The percentages in the three categories have increased compared to a similar survey conducted in 1998.

Women's rights activists attributed the worsening situation to a lack of effort by the government.

"We have the best legislation [protecting women] in Asia, but there is a gap between the law and reality," Chang said.

"People don't know where to find help when they become victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault," said Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄), a women's rights lawyer.

"Even when victims did [seek help], most of them found the help they received was unsatisfactory," she added.

The survey showed that only 38.5 percent of respondents knew where to seek help after experiencing sexual harassment or sexual assault.

The satisfaction rate for victims who had received help from government agencies were even more embarrassing for the government.

Only 3.8 percent of respondents were satisfied with the help they received from police, while just 3.5 percent were satisfied with the help they received from social affairs agencies.

"We want a reasonable budget, we want professionals in the field, we want a special government function in charge and we want attention from local government leaders," Wang said, listing the group's demands to the government.
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