Fu Jen Catholic University yesterday lifted a curfew on female students staying at the school’s dormitory following days of protests by students.
The school board voted 90 to 51 to grant female students entry to the girls’ dormitory with an electronic card system, while unanimously deciding to eliminate penalties for students who stay out past midnight.
It also unanimously voted to allow students to elect their own dorm officials for the first time, while promising a review of the role of dorm matrons.
“Thank you everyone. I will take good care of myself,” university student association chairwoman Liao Yu-wen (廖郁雯) said, sitting in a wheelchair following a four-day hunger strike. “I still feel that human rights and gender equality are not something that should be voted on, but we have achieved our goal.”
“We never expected to win total curfew elimination and when we went to participate in the board meeting, we actually did not want to vote, because we thought the resolution would never pass,” student campaigner Huang Tai-li (黃台禮) said. “The school board’s decision shows that our demands reflected truly universal values.”
With only 20 student representatives on the school board, the motion was passed with the unexpected support of teachers and staff, she said.
According to the curfew, dubbed the “Cinderella curfew” by students, female students who returned to dorms after midnight were penalized with mandatory work, with repeat offenders forfeiting the right to participate in drawings for dormitory rooms.
Campaigners said that the rules were sexist, because they only applied to female students, leading protests on campus and outside the Ministry of Education, with Liao and two other students going on a hunger strike.
Huang said that a petition against the curfew received more than 6,000 signatures, comprising more than a fifth of the school’s students.
“The nuns’ previous method of caring for students was not something that most students felt was unsuitable,” university dean Chiang Han-sheng (江漢聲) said. “We have passed resolutions to make adjustments to the management methods that students disagreed with.”
He said that the dormitories under construction would aim to provide students with sufficient study rooms and shopping options to reduce the need for them to stay out late.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Feminist Scholars Association and the Awakening Foundation released a joint statement calling for the Ministry of Education to proactively review whether other universities had sexist dorm management rules.
Placing curfews only for female students demonstrates persistent paternal attitudes and stereotypes, especially the idea that women need more protection than men, the statement said, adding that the practice aims to help schools avoid responsibility for accidents that might happen outside of the dorms after curfew.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS