The "Incense Burner Incident" showed its effects again: women organizations pointed out in their press conference that this incident has been reactively detrimental to women's rights to the politics. Women with political power has been reported always as "using their body in exchange for power". The "Burner Incident" has encouraged the society to investigate the sexual life of female political figures, but failed to remind the society that men has been using sexual favors and sexual harassment to exercise the trafficking of benefits. In the Incident, it is not clarification that female political figures needed; instead, the society should support the female rights to both politics and sexual enjoyment. On a different note, Li Ang has agreed to edit the novel "Everybody Sticks in the Incense Burner in Beigang" into a television series, and the main character will be played by Lu Xiaofen. (China Times, page 11 and Independent Evening News, page 3, 1997-08-06; China Times, page 5, 1997-08-14)

The Labor Committee has been considering excluding medical doctors and nurses into the protection of the Labor Basic Law (LBL). This triggered a protest in the medical community. The labor union for nurses said that despite the protection of the pregnancy vacation and right of job in the LBL, members of the union have complained that some private hospitals and clinics still unofficially restrict them from being pregnant. Therefore, nurses really need the protection of the LBL. Accepting the petition from the medical community, the Labor Committee promised to include nurses into the protection of the LBL next July. (China Times, page 3, 1997-08-06; China Times, page 16, 1997-08-14)

As the Peng Wanru Foundation report pointed out, the law enforcement have not been giving enough credit to the protection against domestic violence and for female personal safety. For example, a police officer will be credited 30 points for capturing a fugitive, 20 points for arresting a drug user, but the officer will only get 2 points for each domestic violence case investigated and 1 point for arresting a domestic assailant, lower than the 3 points per case and 2 points per arrest defined in the Wildlife Preservation Code. Moreover, the Police University established regulations requiring female students to remain single and only unmarried women can apply. In addition, female students are not admitted to the Departments of Public Safety, Border Police, Maritime Police and Administrative Management of the Police University. (United Daily News, page 19, 1997-08-14)

The Plan for A Five-working-day Week released recently again merged the March 8, International Women's Day and April 4, the Children's Day. This plan calling for a merged "Women and Children Day" in April, defeating the purpose of commemorating the female worker movement occurred on the Eighth of March, raised serious protest from feminist organizations such as the Awakening Association. At the end of the demonstration outside the Ministry of the Interior, the minister Ms. Ye Jinfeng returned to her office. As the representatives from feminist organizations was trying to hand the declaration of protest to the minister, the security personnel blocked them. (China Times, page 14, 1997-08-15)

The Awakening Association published the "Ultimate Runaway Handbook for Women: Dealing with Marital Violence", the third in the "Handbook" series. The book aimed to help the female victims of marital violence. Women organizations pointed out that excited husbands visited them asking for their wives. They thought the organizations "taught women to do bad things" and wanted the organizations to hand their wives back. (China Times, page 13, 1997-08-08)

A former child-molester in Ohio, U.S. was kidnapped by his wife, his mother-in-law and a sister of his mother-in-law. They shaved his head and removed his pubic hair, shoved a cucumber in his anus, and applied hot ointment on his reproductive organ. They wrote "child-molester" on his body and threw him back on the street in his hometown. (China Times, page 5, 1997-08-09)

The police found a couple having an extramarital affair during a routine hotel check. Against the will of the individuals involved, the police contacted the husband of the woman. After the husband arrived and decided not to file a suit for the interference of family against the man, the man left. However, the police, doubting the woman to be a prostitute, stayed to inquire her repeatedly. (China Times, page 6, 1997-08-02)

The Judiciary Department has been considering the possibilities of chemical castration in order to stop the crime of sexual violence. The Correction Division of the department suggested a revision of related articles in the Criminal Code and deliberate carefully about the feasibility of chemical castration. (China Times, page 7, 1997-08-02)

According to the data from the Central Election Committee, the ratio of females in managerial positions in the cabinet and central organizations only slowly increased from the 26.66% twenty years ago to the current 38.64%. This leaves much to be improved towards the goal of equal rights for both sexes. (China Times, page 13, 1997-08-04)

The relation between the feminist and lesbian movements has become a much discussed issue. A panel discussion "Sisters Playing" investigating the interactions between the two movements was held several days ago. The panelists pointed out that the spaces won by the endeavors of the feminist movement were beneficial to both the heterosexual and homosexual women communities. The heterosexuals gained more leverage because of the development of the lesbian movement, and the significance of the two kinds of pressure faced by the homosexuals has to be treated seriously. (China Times, page 47, 1997-08-14)

The Taipei City Government passed the Protocols for the Abolishment of Prostitution, but related measures have not yet been prepared. City Council Members have been worried about the public prostitutes going illegal after the City Government officially announce the abolishment of prostitution in September. (China Times, page 14, 1997-08-12)

The "Taiwan Women Network Forum" established by the Frontier Foundation and several Women Organizations has been released to the public. You are welcome to visit it at http://forum.yam.org.tw/women/ (Independent Morning News, page 5, 1997-08-08)