When it comes to surnames in Taiwan, men have long had more legal say than women.
Because of this and existing articles in the Civil Code, women's rights activists are planning to call on the Council of Grand Justices for a constitutional interpretation of rules that restrict children from adopting their mothers' surnames.
At a press conference held by the Awakening Foundation (婦女新知基金會) yesterday, women's rights advocates urged the Ministry of Justice to lift the restrictions.
Sylvia Feng (馮賢賢), a single mother, said existing regulations disregard the equality of the father and mother in exercising parental guidance and unreasonably restrict the mother's right to give her surname to her children.
"I am a mother. My rights should be the same as the father," Feng said. "My husband has agreed, so it's only due to regulations that my child can't use my surname."
Under the law, children principally take the father's surname, but they can take the mother's surname if the couple agrees. This article has long been in dispute due to another provision that says surname change may occur only when the mother has no brothers.
Feng said she has tried to apply with the registration agency to change her children's surnames to her surname, following her separation from her husband. Although her husband has agreed, Feng said her applications were turned down because she has brothers.
She is now planning to call on the Council of Grand Justices to interpret the gender equality of the restrictions in the Civil Code. "I believe this is a violation of my constitutional rights," Feng said.
Su Chien-ling (蘇芊玲), chairperson of the Awakening Foundation, voiced support for Feng and others in a similar situation, saying the regulation is discriminatory against women.
Su said legal changes have been made in countries such as Germany and France to allow children to take either the father's or the mother's surname. In China, she said, it is also a free choice as to which surname children adopt.
Su said many divorced mothers have complained to the foundation about the surname issue.
"They are the ones who take care of the children, so they feel it's unreasonable that the children must adopt the surname of their distant fathers," Su said.
Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), director of the legal affairs department under the Ministry of Justice said the restrictions on the adoption of the mother's surname are necessary to maintain Taiwan's patriarchal system. In addition, she said that the lifting of the restrictions would complicate and confuse the process of census-taking.
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