“A married daughter is like water thrown out,” is an old Chinese proverb and a notion held by many Taiwanese, especially the older generation. The saying, meaning women are outsiders to their family of origin once they are married, fully demonstrates the low status of females in the society.
Traditionally, education was considered more important for males, and it was acceptable for a man to have more than one wife, while women were expected to strictly follow the Confucian “three obediences and four virtues,” or obedience to the father before marriage, husband afterward and son in widowhood, and propriety in behavior, speech, demeanor and employment.
The society valued men so much that even the Civil Code promulgated in 1929 favored men, requiring that women adopt the husband’s surname after marriage, and live in the husband’s place of residence.
However, women’s status in Taiwan has advanced over the past years thanks to the efforts of feminist advocates. Notable achievements include the passage of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act in 1998, the first such law in Asia, and the Gender Equality in Employment Act in 2002.
According to Yu Chien-ming, a modern history research fellow at the Taipei-based Academia Sinica, feminist consciousness was introduced to Taiwan during the 1970s by students returning from the U.S. “They ran magazines advocating women’s rights during the martial law period, set up women’s organizations after the law was lifted [in 1987], and brought issues such as sexual harassment and gender equality in employment into the spotlight,” Yu said.
Sexual harassment and gender discrimination in employment were a big problem in the 1980s. A survey conducted by the Awakening Foundation in 1984 showed that 80 percent of women had experienced sexual harassment, mostly taking place on public buses, according to Lee Yuan-chen, a former director of the foundation. In the 1990s, cases in which female students were victims of sexual harassment by male students and professors occurred in universities nationwide, prompting feminist study clubs in schools to campaign for measures to prevent such treatment.
Nonetheless, Taiwanese society did not really confront the harassment and violence experienced by women until 1994, when Deng Ru-wen, a long-term victim of domestic violence, killed her husband. “She had tried to seek help from the police, but in vain, because of the common notion at the time that the law does not intervene in the domestic sphere,” Yu said.
Through the intercession of women’s organizations, Deng was sentenced to only three years in jail and obtained custody of her children after serving her time, Yu noted. Moreover, the high profile case spurred passage of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.
This act, amended in April 2009, allows victims of domestic violence to apply for court orders to protect them from abuse, stalking or other threatening actions by family members.
In addition to sexual harassment and violence, discrimination against women in the work place was rampant in the 1980s as demonstrated in clauses implemented by banks, airline companies and government-affiliated cultural centers, requiring that women be single and not become pregnant.
“These clauses obliged women to quit their jobs once they were married or pregnant,” Yu said. “They were introduced because employers worried females would not be able to concentrate on their work once they gave birth.”
In 1987, protests by employees with the Taipei-based National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall led women’s groups to realize there were no laws preventing employers from enforcing these rules, Yu recalled. In 1989, the Awakening Foundation completed a draft act on gender equality in employment, which was sent to the Legislature in 1990, but later rejected by the Cabinet.
Only after the Cabinet came up with its own version in 1999 and the Legislature passed it in 2002 were women’s employment rights safeguarded.
“Objections from interest groups, especially businesses, were the main reason the act took 12 years to pass, as companies were afraid their competitiveness would be weakened if women had too many rights,” said Ku Yen-lin, a consultant for the Awakening Foundation and a member of Taipei City’s Commission on Women’s Rights Promotion.
“We must constantly call attention to women’s rights, or the government will not take the issue seriously.”
Despite the fact that the ROC was the first nation in the world to reserve legislative seats for women, in its Constitution promulgated in 1947, women have had difficulties competing with men due to the traditionally greater respect for males, and the unequal educational opportunities for women, according to Hu Ai-jo, a professor at the National Defense University.
“Even when women are elected to political office through the system, they are unable to address women’s plight because of their lack of feminist consciousness and concern for helping other women improve their situation,” Ku stressed. “They may be just tokens of political families or representatives running in place of their fathers or husbands.”
Looking back at the 30-plus years women have been fighting for their rights in Taiwan, Yu said one of the greatest improvements is that women now exhibit higher levels of feminist consciousness. However, traditional notions are never easy to change, and women must keep up the good fight in this, as Ku described it, “revolution not yet successful.” (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw