Taiwan sees rise in domestic violence

While the high profile cases have grabbed a lot of attention, the problem of domestic violence in Taiwan has not received as much public and government attention as it should have, according to groups seeking to prevent and reduce the rate of family violence.

“Although most family violence victims, regardless of their age or gender, are not willing to tell what happened to them, people around them can usually sense some clues if they care about their relatives, friends and classmates,” said Kang Shu-hua, deputy executive director of the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation.

However, “many Taiwanese are still hesitant to extend a helping hand to such victims because they think (domestic violence) is other families' business,” Kang said.

According to the latest statistics compiled by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), the number of domestic violence cases reported to the police, hospital authorities and social welfare organizations in 2008 grew by about 10 percent from 2007 to a total of 79,874 cases, with 16 victims killed.

Although some experts see the rising numbers as a good sign — that an increasing number of victims are reporting abuse whereas in the past they and their families preferred to keep the violence behind closed doors, others contend that the increase indicates that domestic violence remains a conspicuous social problem.

“A bad economy has unavoidably been the major factor behind many domestic violence cases in recent years, while a growing public awareness about the seriousness of the problem also contributed to the increase,” Kang said.

After Taiwan's domestic violence prevention law was enacted in June 1998, the number of domestic violence cases has steadily increased.

MOI statistics showed that women accounted for about 60 percent of Taiwan's family violence victims, with those between 30-50 years old making up 40 percent of the total. Children and teenagers under 18 years are the second-largest group, making up about 22 percent.

The reason why women aged between 30-50 most often fall prey to domestic violence may be in part because most females in this age group are married and because of their willingness to seek outside help, Kang explained.

Nonetheless, Kang said it is not easy for many women to escape from an abusive marriage and they usually have to go through a long process to get out of a desperate situation.

“On average, abused married women have to make seven rounds of attempts (before finally leaving their husband or boyfriend),” she said.

Based on an analysis late last year of the cases handled by the Modern Women's Foundation (MWF), around half of the abused married women would dare to ask for help after five years of suffering, MWF CEO Yao Shu-wen said.

“That is already an improvement compared to 15 years ago when Taiwanese women tolerated (abuse) for over 10 years,” Yao said.

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