Migrant Workers in Taipei Raise Awareness of Gender Violence, Palestine

TaiwanPlus News

Migrant workers in Taipei protested gender violence in Taiwan through song and dance at the city’s transportation hub. Participants also called for solidarity with Palestinian women and children. Activists say the Taiwanese government still has much to do to address violence against migrant women.

Transcript

00:00Migrant workers from all over Taipei steal the show at Taipei Main Station,

00:07dancing to celebrate International Women's Month.

00:11But this is no ordinary performance.

00:14It's a protest against gender-based violence

00:17and what they say is the unfair treatment of migrant workers in Taiwan.

00:21It's a very dignifying experience for a lot of migrants

00:24that this problem that I'm sure many of them have faced

00:30gets put and everyone's forced to see it.

00:34It's part of One Billion Rising,

00:36an annual global campaign to end violence against women,

00:39held in 60 countries across the world.

00:42In Taiwan, a study by labor organization Serve the People Association

00:47revealed that one in six migrant workers face gender-based violence.

00:51Of them, 90% are domestic workers.

00:55In the manufacturing sector,

00:5778% of migrant workers who get pregnant

01:00are forced to terminate their contracts and return home.

01:03Here, migrant workers are talking about their experiences.

01:07When you get sick, you bring yourself to the hospital

01:11and no one will help you.

01:14That's when I realized that caretakers like me are pitiful.

01:19I was just stressed at that time when our company terminated me.

01:24I couldn't get close to other people here in Taiwan.

01:54The organizer for One Billion Rising

01:56highlights the struggles of migrant women in Taiwan

01:59and women in Gaza and the occupied West Bank,

02:02saying both groups faced forced migration,

02:05one driven by war, the other by economic hardship.

02:09We see it as connected in that migrant women

02:13and Palestinian women are in their fight

02:16to secure a better future for their family.

02:18They're at the forefront of facing this violence.

02:21While Taiwan's government has taken steps

02:23to address migrant worker issues,

02:26such as allowing more freedom to change employers

02:29and promoting direct hiring from their home countries,

02:32activists here say those efforts are not enough.

02:35They don't have any protection for their reproductive rights.

02:38So when they are pregnant,

02:40they will always face harassment from the employers or the brokers.

02:43Taiwan currently has over 825,000 migrant workers,

02:48mainly from Southeast Asia.

02:50This gathering serves as a yearly reminder

02:53that while Taiwan prides itself as a champion

02:55of human rights and democracy,

02:57much has yet to change for these women.

03:00Migrant women here are speaking out

03:02against what they call exploitation.

03:04Their fight for justice and equality

03:06is not just about Taiwan.

03:08It's a call for women everywhere.

03:10Justin Wu, Sandy Chee, and Gina Lopez

03:13in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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