Taiwan is a great place to be a girl. The country’s policies and politics allow women to feel empowered and respected. Rape and other crimes against women are unheard of. (Unfortunately, this could be because the victims are too traumatized to come forward). When it comes to women’s rights, Taiwan is in the lead against other Asian countries and many Western ones as well. This might be due to the fact that Taiwan has more female legislators than any other country (except for ones in Scandinavia). Undoubtedly, this helps laws regarding gender biased issues (including maternity leave, marriage rights and business practices) to be passed with more empathy and understanding for the average female citizen.
Since the very beginning, Taiwan has been set up to give women a voice in politics. In fact, the country’s constitution states that half of all available legislative seats must be filled by women. As of today, Taiwan and Scandinavia are the only two countries with this sort of system in place, which is a shame. Just think of all legislative headaches that could have been avoided in the United States if a similar system was in place. Remember the tampon tax? That crap would have never happened. Anyway, the point is that females in Taiwan feel fairly represented in their government. As a result, Taiwan’s Gender Equality Act and maternity leave policies are equal to, and in many circumstances better than, those in found in Western countries.
Taiwan’s maternity leave policy is especially spectacular. New mothers and fathers are offered eight weeks of leave at FULL pay. If the parent has been employed in their position for less than six months, they are still entitled to the time off as well as half pay. This is fantastic. Yeah, the Unites States offers new mothers (not fathers) 12 weeks off for a new baby, but it’s unpaid. As a result, hardly any new mom actually uses all of that time. Instead, they are trying to get back to work as quickly as possible. New babies are expensive.
Of course, Taiwan’s awesome maternity leave legislation may also come from generations of tradition and superstition. In Taiwan, as well as in other Asian countries, it is believed that a new mother and her child should be separated from the world to enjoy a month of pampered solitude and seclusion. Such beliefs make it difficult for managers to rush their female employees back into the office. Of course, this tradition was originally started to protect birth mothers and newborns from malevolent spirits that would take advantage of their weakened condition. However, the tradition has persisted and now protects them from overzealous employers.
In modern Asia, the four weeks of seclusion has become an optional affair. Some women do decide to go spend four weeks in seclusion at a post-partum clinic, but these services do not come cheap. The clinics, also, hold both mother and baby to a strict set of rules. First of all, they are allowed to go outside and the list goes on from there. Some of the other rules include not being allowed to eat raw fruit, drink cold liquids, shower (only sponge baths are allowed) or stand in a drafty room. In lieu of the prices and strict guidelines, many new Asian moms are opting to stay at home for a month instead. Can’t say I blame them. I wouldn’t want to go four weeks without brushing my teeth either. Besides, you’d basically be paying someone to stand around and not let you do things.
In addition to fabulous maternity leave policies, females in Taiwan get to enjoy menstrual or period leave. National law states that female employees are allowed three days of additional sick leave for menstruation. The pain is real guys. Of course, many girls just take Advil and suck it up, so that they can save the extra sick days for something really important like Mondays. Some private companies even allow female employees one Period Day per month at half pay. This must do wonders for office moral. Think of all the avoided cat fights and melodrama.
Conscientiousness toward the fairer sex isn’t just found in the office and politics, but in everyday life as well. In Taipei, you can tell that the city has been planned with female citizens in mind. This is especially true in the public transportation sector. Of course, Taiwan’s public transportation is better than any other country’s anyway, but the details in place for female safety are a huge bonus. Every public transport platform in the city is designed with monitored safety waiting zones. This way female passengers and commuters traveling alone know that there’s a safe place for them at every train and MRT station. This concept is fabulous and I have no idea why I had to travel all the way around the world to find it. All in all, Taiwan feels much safer than the average Western country.
Women’s rights still have a long way to go. Even in Taiwan, there is still harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Especially over pregnancy, many women are not promoted to managerial positions for this reason. If a female employee does become pregnant, she will often be relocated to a different position at lower pay or asked to resign. Also, many sexual assault and harassment victims fail to come forward over fear of social repercussions and discrimination.
The workplace is not only where sexual discrimination still exists; Taiwan still has plenty of backward marital expectation and laws. If a foreign female marries into a Taiwanese family and has children, according to Taiwanese law, if the husband dies, the children go to his parents, not with their foreign mom. Also, there’s still that whole issue of women being expected to take care of both their husband and his parents after marriage with no thought given to the bride or her family. Luckily, these expectations are slowly changing with the current generation of women who will be raising their own daughters with more realistic ideas on what makes a good husband and marriage.
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