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.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all