Women in Taiwan
Encyclopedia
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Their status as women in Taiwan has been based on and affected by the "traditional patriarchal views and social structure" within Taiwanese society.
Legal status
Despite of the ongoing prosperity in the Taiwan's economy and occurring democratic reforms, women of Taiwan still have to struggle against discrimination in several laws. Thus they still have to claim equal rights with Taiwanese men.The 1930 Taiwanese Civil Codes provides limited rights to Taiwanese women, such as having no right in deciding their residence, the lack of right to own property, the lack of right to file a divorce, the lack of self-protection, and the lack of right to child custody. In the present-day Taiwanese legal system, the laws relating to Taiwanese women's rights can be found in the Constitution of the Republic of China
Constitution of the Republic of China
The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fundamental law of the Republic of China . Drafted by the Kuomintang as part of its third stage of national development , it established a centralized Republic with five branches of government...
, the Family Law of the ROC Civil Code, the Standards for Labor Work, Industry Law, Employee Service Act, and other related regulations for protecting gender equality in the Republic of China (Taiwan).
However, since 1998, there is still a continuation of the influence of patriarchal ideology with regards to family matters. The male still has superiority in decisions related to the wife's residence, the children's use of the father's surname, disciplinary measures for their offsprings, and managing property. This is despite the modification in Family Law of the ROC Civil Law made in 1985 and in 1996.
There are also other laws limiting the rights of Taiwanese women in filing divorce, which cannot be granted without the husband's consent. However, this is also the case vice versa: a husband cannot easily divorce without the wife's consent.
See also
- Taiwanese peopleTaiwanese peopleTaiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
- Yenlin KuYenlin KuYenlin Ku is a prominent feminist involved in the women's movement in Taiwan.Ku has been active in the movement since the mid 1970s. In 1982 Ku and a group of colleagues who supported gender equality established the magazine Awakening to encourage women's self-awareness and to raise public...
- National Alliance of Taiwan Women's AssociationsNational Alliance of Taiwan Women's AssociationsThe National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations is the only umbrella group for organizations promoting women’s interests across the island of Taiwan. The Alliance is both a Non-governmental organization and a Non-profit organization. Founded in 2001, the alliance consists of 67 member groups...
External links
- Women's Status in Taiwan
- National Alliance of Taiwan Women's Associations (NATWA)
- Taiwan Women Web
- Kung Lydia. Factory women in Taiwan, books.google.com
- Book Overview, books.google.com
- Shen, Hsiu-Hua. Women's February 28 Political Massacre--Political Widows' Oral History, uta.edu
- Hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Taiwan: Comparison between women born in Taiwan and other southeast countries, biomedcentral.com
- Wolf, Margery. Women and the Family in Rural Taiwan, amazon.com
- Landler, Mark. Cartoon of Wartime 'Comfort Women' Irks Taiwan, The New York Times, query.nytimes.com, March 2, 2001
- Career Dynamic of Self-employment for Men and Women in Taiwan and Korea, allacademic.com