Migrant workers yesterday marched against gender-based exploitation and violence against female caretakers, and called for an end to paying high fees to broker agencies, in the lobby of Taipei Railway Station.
Activists and spokespeople for migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries said they were marking International Women’s Day, which was on Friday last week, and protesting discrimination, sexual harassment and unfair labor practices in Taiwan.
Organized by Migrante Taiwan, the National Domestic Workers’ Union, Serve the People Association and other labor rights organizations, the event began outside Taipei Railway Station before protesters marched on the walkway around the station building.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
They held up banners and placards calling for rights for migrant workers, an end to the exploitation of female caretakers and justice for victims of abuse.
After the march, participants held a “dance for freedom” in the main lobby of Taipei Railway Station, which is linked to the One Billion Rising campaign, a global movement to end oppression, abuse and sexual violence against women, Migrante Taiwan chairperson Gilda Banugan said.
“More than 90 percent of domestic caregivers who look after the elderly at home are women migrant workers, while others hold jobs at factories, which they contribute significantly to the Taiwanese society and economy,” Banugan said, adding that these women often experience gender-based discrimination, harassment and even sexual assault, but victims only have limited legal protection.
“The absence of adequate safeguards leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse,” Banugan said.
Speakers took turns to talk about their experience of discrimination.
Francia Balderama, a Filipino labor activist, said that she has worked in Taiwan for 11 years, in factories and as a caregiver, and that her work in the nation would soon be over, but she does not have retirement benefits or welfare assistance and therefore asked for better rights protections and wage support under labor laws.
Balderama also requested that her home country take responsibility to provide more financial support for migrant workers who return after working abroad.
Activists held banners in English and Tagalog saying: “Hold PH government accountable, end forced labor migration,” “Create more jobs in the Philippines” and “Resist BBM’s foreign-dependent charter change.”
“BBM” refers to Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS