A certain man surnamed Xu forced his wife to sexual intercourse after arguing with her and consequently injured her. He also attempted to rape his wife on multiple occasions and whenever she tried to resist, he beat her. The district attorney filed suit against Xu, counting interference of personal freedom (may be initiated by the DA) and assault (may only be initiated upon complaint). The judge considered that the husband did not have the right to force the wife to sexual behavior, and decided to punish Xu as a rapist. Xu pleaded his wife to withdraw the accusation of rape (which may only be initiated upon complaint) and she did withdraw the case. The DA said that he will consider further appeal. (China Times, page 6, 1997-07-07)

Commentary: We should cheer for this DA because s/he showed her/his determination to punish male violence with practice. We also have to cheer for the judge because s/he upheld the personal freedom of married women. However, the violator still escaped the law, even with these two excellent judiciary officers because of the backward laws. Rape cases may only be initiated upon complaint. This regulation puts the female plaintiff under strong pressure. She may be emotionally forced or violently threatened to withdraw the case. We do have to improve our laws!

A female consumer pointed out that a fitness club claimed in their advertisement that their "scientific slim program will only cost NTD 15,000", but when she registered for the program it cost her NTD 42,000 in a day and she had to buy medications costing NTD 59,000 (afterwards it was proven that none of the medications were approved by the Health Administration). She also had to pay the annual fee of NTD 350,000. The body stylist also performed urinalysis for her. Half a month later she found out that she had kidney disease-caused edema instead of general obesity but she still went to the fitness club for sauna and, under the persuasion of the staff of the club, paid the club NTD 1,060,000 for lifetime membership. The next day she regretted and with the help of the accompanying Taipei County Councilmember Zhong Xiaoping she got back her NTD 1,060,000. Zhong Xiaoping pointed out that urinalysis is a medical operation that the body stylist was not qualified to conduct. She also said that the club did not give any receipt to the customers so the government should investigate into possible evasion and avoidance of tax. (Independent Evening Post, page 4, 1997-07-14)

City council members Qin Huizhu and Li Qing'an of Kuomintang are organizing a "National Association for KMT Female Parliament and Council Members", demanding an increase of female participation in politics at both national and local levels. According to their demand, female members should occupy at least one-fourth of the seats in the KMT Central Standing Committee, the KMT Central Committee, and the political representation at all levels. The Cabinet should also follow the "1/4 principle" and recruit more female members. In addition to this, they also demanded to have at least one female Vice President in the party. (Independent Daily, page 14, 1997-07-06)

The Office of Census Administration in Changhwa discovered that the proportion of unmarried females in Taiwan increased in recent years. This was thought to be an influence of the influx of foreign brides. They think that foreign brides took away both working opportunities and marriage opportunities so that the females fit for marriage would face the "old and lonely single life". (Independent Daily, page 16, 1997-07-06)

More than half of the subdistrict managers (li-zhang) in Taipei City's Songshan District signed a petition demanding the female District Manager (qu-zhang) Huang Shuqing be replaced. The president of the Songshan Association of Subdistrict Managers pointed out that the district manager should be a male because most subdistrict managers were not refined enough to communicate properly with a female district manager. Chief Chen Zhe'nan of the Department of Civil Affairs said that the managers are actually accusing his department and only using this as a starting point. The managers, hearing this, became angrier and were considering filing a libel suit against the Taipei City Government. (China Times, page 14 and United Daily News, page 14, 1997-07-15)

Shi Jiqing and Chen Ye released their series of books "God Gets His Fortune Told Too", and decided to bust the fortune tellers that were actually racketeers using TV programs and public speeches. Shi Jiqing pointed out that in fortune telling, there are only women that are "curses to their husband, their father and their sons", but there are no men that "curses to their wife, their mother and their daughters". The Chinese Association of Astrologers representing the fortune tellers have filed suit accusing Shi, Chen and another author Li Ao of damaging the fortune tellers' reputations.

A 17-year-old young woman was assaulted to death by three young men. The assailants hit her with dumbbells, pricked her private parts with clothes hangers, burned her with hot water and hid her corpse in a closet.

In Hsinchu, a junior high schoolboy led his girl classmate to a music classroom and raped her. Afterwards he harassed her, pressed her to dates, and boasted all around campus. Finally, the case was exposed because the girl could not take it any more and ran away from home.

In Taipei City, more than 600 women victims of domestic violence requested help at public hospitals. Most assailants are spouses, boyfriends, cohabitants and ex-husbands, accounting for 84.32 % of all cases. (China Times, page 13 and Independent Daily, page 6, 1997-07-06; United Daily News, page 7, 1997-07-14)

The Bar Association of Japan released the Report on Taiwanese Confort Women and a letter to the Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro demanding Japan to take up the legal responsibilities to the Taiwanese Comfort Women. (China Times, page 16, 1997-07-04)

Dr. Zhou Yuejin, Director of the Rehabilitation Unit in Taoyuan's St. Paul Hospital, wrote to the newspaper and revealed female doctors' experience. A male patient reportedly held her hands and said, "Female doctors are indeed different!? Your hands are so soft and the touch heals the pain immediately!"? Another said, "Doctor, your chests are so big; your husband is so lucky."? One patient impatiently took off all his clothes and lay on the ward bed when taking a lower body electromyogram. Dr. Zhou said that she was "not afraid, but shaking with anger."? (United Daily News, page 43, 1997-07-09)

The Association for Sex Education pointed out that there is a peak of abortion every September during the start of school, after the summer vacation. According to Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the abortion rate and birth rate is most likely about the same. (China Times, page 16, 1997-07-10)

Considering the low morale of the troops, the Russian Military hired a Playboy cover girl to host a military TV show. Every year, 5,000 Russian soldiers dies of violence, suicide, accidents or bad living conditions. It is still uncertain whether the creation of a sex symbol will improve the situation. Another unorthodox theory somehow got the key: "The military is a men's world; only women attract the men." (China Times, page 5, 1997-07-14)