The number of female victims of violent crime in Taiwan last year was more than double the number of male victims, a Ministry of the Interior official said yesterday.
Lin Tzu-ling (林慈玲), executive secretary of an interior ministry committee aimed at preventing domestic violence and sexual assault, cited National Police Administration (NPA) statistics during a seminar on the protection of women's rights.
The statistics showed that 103.6 out of every 100,000 women were victims of violent crime last year, while 41.8 out of every 100,000 men were.
The same statistics showed that the number of female victims of sexual assault or domestic violence was much higher than that of male victims.
There were 3,114 victims of sexual assault last year, with women accounting for 97.1 percent of the total. The NPA also handled 17,316 cases of domestic violence, with more than 90 percent of the victims being women.
Lin said that in order to guarantee the physical safety and mental health of women, a special task force under an Executive Yuan committee to promote women's rights has already presented a work plan. The plan focuses on the prevention of domestic violence, sexual assault, the sex trade and sexual harassment, as well as on the protection and support of women, aboriginal groups and disadvantaged groups.
The government has also already begun to pay attention to the problems faced by foreign and Chinese spouses, especially in the areas of education, employment and medical care, Lin said.
Meanwhile, a local women's rights activist said yesterday that the government should set up a gender equality ministry to promote gender equality in policy formulation, legislation and resources distribution.
Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), president of the National Union of Taiwan Women's Associations (NUTWA), made the appeal at a seminar on the promotion of women's rights.
Noting that "rule by both genders" was one of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign promises, Yu said the administration should take advantage of the current government restructuring drive to create a gender affairs ministry to aid the realization of this goal.
Yu pointed out that women's rights promotion as a global trend has expanded to the pursuit of gender mainstreaming, which means putting gender equality into mainstream policies.
According to Yu, the Council of Europe has defined this as the reorganization, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender equality perspective can be incorporated in all policies at all levels and at all stages, by those normally involved in policy-making.
To reach the goal of gender equality, Yu said, more and more countries around the world have created a national-level agency to handle gender affairs.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
Fung-wong has been downgraded to a tropical storm from a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The storm has weakened, but would still pose a major threat to Taiwan and its surrounding waters as it comes closer, CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) told reporters. As of 9am, the center of Tropical Storm Fung-wong was 360km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point, and moving north-northeast to northeast at 12kph. It was carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 108kph and gusts of 137kph, compared with 119kph and 155kph respectively recorded at about 7am
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