While the nation's overall birth rate falls so low that the Council of Labor Affairs is offering financial incentives to couples to induce them to have children, the birth rate for girls aged 15-19 is the highest in the Asia-Pacific region, according to local non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
But that's not necessarily good news, according to the Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women's Rights (TAPWR), an NGO composed of female lawyers.
The association, along with the Nursing Teachers Association of the Republic of China -- another NGO that seeks to add more health and sex education classes to schools' curricula -- cited the statistic at a press conference yesterday, saying that young women and girls who become pregnant often do so by accident.
"There isn't sufficient sex education in our schools, which is why so many school-age girls are getting pregnant by accident," said Chen I-chun (陳怡君), a member of TAPWR.
Wu Cheng-ting (
Wu said that many teachers are too embarrassed to teach classes about sex and gender equality.
In light of the lack of sex education and the sheer number of unexpected pregnancies, TAPWR published a book on sex-related issues recently, and held a press conference in Taipei yesterday to launch it.
"This book is for educators to use in helping both boys and girls to understand how to avoid unexpected pregnancies, and to tell girls what their options are if they do find themselves pregnant," TAPWR member Lan Bei-chi (藍貝芝) said.
She added that the book -- How To Handle an Unexpected Pregnancy (
"The book is an updated guide that covers the medical, legal and social aspects of sex and pregnancy," Chen said as she demonstrated how to properly use a condom by deftly applying one to a vibrator.
"When I visit schools [to demonstrate condom usage], not even the teachers refer to a penis properly. Finally, we had everybody call the vibrator Mr Adam (亞當先生)," Chen added.
Li Chao-huan (李兆環), the director of TAPWR, told reporters that her association is seeking to put a copy of How To Handle an Unexpected Pregnancy in every junior high and senior high school in the country.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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