It is possible that more that 90 percent of people affected by violence in homosexual relationships do not seek help from government-run support networks, Modern Women’s Foundation chief executive officer Fan Kuo-yung (范國勇) said at National Taiwan University in Taipei on Friday.
According to the WHO, intimate-partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence and includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as well as controlling behavior.
Fan, a former member of the Executive Yuan’s Gender Equality Committee, made the statement at a forum held by the foundation and the Taiwan LGBT Hotline Association, a non-profit advocacy group.
According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey conducted in 2010 by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Injury Prevention and Control, respondents who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual reported rates of violence at least as high as heterosexual respondents.
A survey conducted by the Modern Women’s Foundation and the hotline association in 2013 showed that intimate-partner violence among gay couples happens at a similar rate as among heterosexual couples.
A survey conducted by Academia Sinica in 2012 found that homosexuals in Taiwan make up more than 4.4 percent of the population, Fan said.
Last year, 64,058 cases of
intimate-partner violence among heterosexual couples were reported, Fan said.
Based on the assumption that the rate is similar among homosexuals, it can hypothesized that there were at least 2,000 cases of intimate-partner violence among homosexual couples that year, Fan said.
However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said that only 63 cases of same-sex intimate partner violence were reported last year.
Based on those figures, more than 90 percent of homosexuals affected by intimate-partner violence do not seek help from government-run support networks, so there is a need to raise awareness about the issue in LGBT communities, he said.
Taiwan LGBT Hotline Association secretary-general Peng Chih-liu (彭治鏐) said that one form of intimate-partner violence unique to the homosexual population is the threat from abusive partners to “out” the other.
Forms of violence in lesbian and gay relationships differ from other types of relationships, Peng said.
Gays are more likely to stalk, harass and intimidate partners, while lesbians endure more verbal harassment from their partners, he said.
Such behavior shows that same-sex couples lack the social support to handle breakups properly, Peng said.
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