Filming for a documentary to commemorate the legacy of women’s rights activist Peng Wan-ru (彭婉如), called A Journey in Search of Wan-ru’s Footsteps (尋找婉如足跡之旅), is under way, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said in a statement.
Yesterday was Taiwan’s Women’s Rights Day, established in remembrance of Peng, a political activist who was assaulted and murdered after leaving a DPP meeting in Kaohsiung on Nov. 30, 1996.
Three days after disappearing, Peng’s body was discovered in a warehouse outside Kaohsiung. The autopsy found Peng had been sexually assaulted and stabbed more than 30 times.
Photo: CNA
A suspect in the killing was never identified, and her death sparked a public outcry and galvanized the women’s rights movement.
“On this day 29 years ago, Peng Wan-ru, then head of the party’s inaugural Department of Women’s Affairs, was killed. She had been active in politics and advocating for gender equality, at a time when women’s issues were not part of mainstream politics, and she was the one who pushed for women’s rights to be included in the party policy platform,” a release from the DPP’s Gender Equality Department said.
Before joining the DPP, Peng served as general secretary for the Taipei-based Awakening Foundation, organizing debate sessions on women’s viewpoints of two major political parties, the statement said.
Peng founded a journal for women in democracy movements and assisted organizing grassroots women’s groups, as well as gender equality issues at organized events.
“Peng did not live to see the strides made for her ‘one-quarter women quota’ proposal, but her spirit has not stopped,” it said.
Last week, legislators passed an amendment promoting a one-third quota for women for elected councilor positions and representative seats in local elections, which would encourage more women to participate in politics, and reduce the urban-rural gap for women in local governance.
“We shall go in search of Peng’s footsteps, by compiling news reports, articles and videotapes from that period, to reconstruct those past times and to produce a documentary film on her life story,” the statement said.
“The public can get to know Peng and her partners in the women’s movement from that era through recollected stories about them from her contemporaries in politics and her associates in advocating for gender equality,” it added.
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