This is a summary of a call for help I received from the Awakening Foundation in Taipei, Taiwan.
Since 1930, Taiwan's Civil Codes have discriminated against and oppressed Taiwanese women. Under these codes, married women do not have the right to decide where to live; this right belongs to their husbands alone. Married women have no independent right to property, and women abused in marriage do not have resources to self-protection or the right to file for divorce. Women also do not have the right to child custody; in cases of divorce, children "belong" to their fathers (and/or the patriliny).
Following five years of work, the Awakening Foundation, Taiwan's first and oldest feminist NGO (non-governmental organization), has written a revision to the discriminatory Book of Family of the Taiwanese Civil Codes.
On Saturday March 11, 1995 the Awakening Foundation submitted the proposal
to the Taiwanese Government. However, without international support, the
revision may be voted down. You can help by writing/faxing letters to the
following offices of the Taiwanese Government, demanding immediate
attention to the revision of the Taiwan Codes. Your support is crucial to
the success of a long-term struggle for the rights of women in Taiwan.
I strongly support the Taiwanese womens' action to revise the Civil Code.
Taiwan has long laid claim to having become a fully democratic society.
The basic rights and welfare of women is an integral part of any
democratic state. Taiwan must represent and protect the rights of all the
women in Taiwan, otherwise your claim to democracy would in effect be a
hypocritical claim, built on the continued oppression of women.
I call on the Taiwanese government to courageously stand with the women of
Taiwan, to fight with women for the good and rights of all the people in
Taiwan. Only then will a truly democratic nation, a nation that respects
and upholds all human rights and full gender equality be realized and
recognized as such by the international community of nations.
Please write: Mr. Liu Sung Fan Mr. Shin Chi Yang Mr. Ma Ying Jiu Please also send a copy of your letter(s) by fax or mail to: Awakening Foundation
Taiwanese Government Officials:
President Lee Teng Hui
Office of the President
Chieh-Show Hall, Chung-King South Road
Taipei, TAIWAN
Tel: 886-2-3113731
Fax: 886-2-3140746
President, Legislative Yuan
No. 1, Chung-Shan South Road
Taipei, TAIWAN
Tel: 886-2-3211531 ext. 201
Fax: 886-2-3222558
President, Judicial Yuan
No. 124, Chung-King South Road, Sec. 1
Taipei, TAIWAN
Tel: 886-2-3141936
Fax: 886-2-3898923
Minister, Ministry of Justice
No. 130, Chung-King South Road, Sec. 1
Taipei, TAIWAN
Tel: 886-2-3316772
Fax: 886-2-3319102
2F, No. 7, Lane 56
Shin-Sheng S. Rd. Sec. 3
Taipei, TAIWAN
Tel: 866-2-3637929
Fax: 886-2-3631381