Is sex crime-this most reprehensible of ways the two sexes interact-due only to a small number of men acting out impulsive lust, or is it a result of the overall paternalistic structure of society? Is it the result of an innate aggressiveness in men, or have men acquired this trait after a long period of dominance? Faced with this perpetually contentious issue, is it enough to better protect women? Or do we need to change men?
Last December, in the midst of the public outcry over the murder of Peng Wanju, Zhang Yuwen (a pseudonym), who works in publishing, was on her way home after working late at the office. She played it safe, not only using a radio taxi service (rather than just getting into a cab on the street), but also asking her building's security guard to escort her to the taxi so the driver would know that someone had seen her get into his cab.
Intolerably, once the door was closed, the driver began saying in suggestive tones, "Miss, what are you so nervous about? Are you afraid of becoming another Peng Wanju? Women just don't get it, do they? If they would just lay there and let themselves be raped without a fuss, they wouldn't be killed, so what's there to be so afraid of? Of course it's only the attractive women who need to be afraid. I wouldn't have one of those ugly ones if you gave her to me. One time this fat girl wearing this very short skirt got in the taxi and sat up front. When we got to her place she pretended to be so drunk that she needed me to help her upstairs. But I'm no fool. She would have 'banged' me to death." As the driver rattled on in this vulgar and offensive way, from time to time he would look in his rear view mirror to size up Zhang's reaction. Seeing her nervous, tensed face, he laid it on even thicker as he went along.
After putting up with this, feeling disgusted, angry, and frightened, Zhang finally got home. Just as she was thinking that she really wanted to release her feelings by telling someone about it all, she saw her husband sitting in front of the TV, not even bothering to look up at her as she came in. Afraid he would blame her for working late, and knowing that he would not consider it to be any big deal in any case, Yuwen, feeling oppressed and stifled, in the end said nothing.
Who can know a woman's fears?
In fact, the taxi driver's tawdry chatter and Yuwen's husband's insensitivity reflect very common attitudes among men toward a woman's worst nightmare-sexual crime.
"For most men, sex offenses seem remote," says Kan Tienkui, a professor in the Graduate Institute of Law at Fujen Catholic University, who drafted the "Sexual Crimes Prevention Law" on behalf of the Modern Women's Foundation. "A woman is raped and murdered, or sexually harassed, not over money or for love or some old grudge, but simply because she is by nature the physically weaker sex. Men, who are naturally physically stronger, cannot understand such fears at all, nor do they think it necessary to find out what they are all about."
Yet, Kan emphasizes, not all men are "genderblind." Many men are willing to imagine themselves in the woman's shoes. Moreover, not all women have an inborn "feminist consciousness." Take for example many women who come from affluent families or who have been very successful and have a vested interest in this male-dominated society; or look at women from traditional backgrounds who have long accepted as fate that "males are to be respected and women despised" and who have never dared voice any doubts. Both of these types may hold views "more male than males." This is reflected in the fact that in the survey we conducted for this issue (written up in an accompanying article), there is often only a small "gender gap" between the aggregate views of men and those of women.
Kan adds an even more ridiculous case of how hard it has been to change men's attitudes. In ROC criminal law, rape is defined as a "crime damaging to social morality." In other words, according to the legal interpretation, the real evil in rape is that it offends the requirement for women to remain chaste and virtuous. As for the woman, it seems that the violation of her person is secondary!
Moreover, observing the waves of protests or silent vigils held by women's groups for Peng Wanju or for victims of rape, the typical male seemed to feel that this was much ado about very little: "Come on, Taiwan isn't that bad!" Unfortunately, the statistics tell a different story.
According to data from the National Police Administration, last year alone there were 1380 reported cases of rape or gang rape, victimizing more than 1400 women. This figure marked a sharp rise-double the rate of five years ago. Moreover, "inferring from the fact that Chinese have always placed great emphasis on 'a woman's virtue' and 'chastity' the rate of reporting of sexual offenses is probably very low. Of every ten of these crimes, perhaps only one is reported," estimates Huang Fuyuan, director of the crime prevention institute at the National Police College. Thus, in actuality there were most likely 10,000 or so rape cases in Taiwan last year. That's an average of 30 per day, or one every 50 minutes!
It couldn't happen here!
Besides the rape cases, every year a large number of women and girls are reported missing. No one knows for sure what happens to them-did they run away from home, get kidnapped or sold, or were they ultimately raped and murdered? A case in point is that of a secondgrader at the Taliao Primary School in Kaohsiung County, who went missing last year. Police suggested that she probably lied to her mother about staying late at school, and was probably enticed or taken away by someone she knew, so they didn't put much effort into looking. If it weren't for the fact that, a month and a half later, her bones were found being chewed upon by stray dogs, this case probably would have ended inconclusively.
According to criminal classification in the US, rape is a very serious crime, assault in the third degree. Then there are seconddegree offenses-"physical harassment"-like forced kissing, molestation, peeping, or flashing (exposure), and also firstdegree offenses, covering "verbal harassment." It seems that the attention and concern given to these latter two categories in Taiwan is insufficient.
Chiao Hsingkai, a specialist on law in the Institute of European and American Studies at the Academia Sinica, notes that under US law businesses share liability for harassment committed in the workplace. Every year US firms lose millions of dollars through this problem. Looking to their purse strings, companies have taken a variety of steps. Many have established sexual harassment review boards. Many give handbooks to new employees to teach them how to avoid committing harassment, wittingly or unwittingly.
Looking back to Taiwan, sexual harassment has gotten little more attention than as fodder for gossip about scandals. Only a tiny number of corporations have set up review boards. Most companies say things like, "That kind of thing doesn't happen at our company," or "That's never come up before."
The series of sex crimes at the end of last year, with their lessons in blood, brought a public outcry, mobilizing the longdormant power of women. This led to the passage, in very short order, of the "Sexual Crimes Prevention Law," proposed by legislator Pan Weikang but hung up for three years in the legislature. On the day it passed, women legislators across all party lines joined hands and celebrated together.
However, Chang Chinli, executive director of the Modern Women's Foundation, who was involved in the legislative process from start to finish, says that not only was this outcome too long in coming, the law had been substantially watered down. The main reason was the powerful obstruction of the "male outlook."
Two types of chauvinists
"Actually, the original spirit of the bill was to emphasize 'sexual autonomy,' with the idea that both men and women should have autonomy over their own bodies," notes Chang.
In fact, it is not only women who are victims of sexual crimes. Males-especially small boys-are often targets of adult victimizers. About onetenth of reported cases accuse women of violating men, and there are also cases involving homosexuals. This is especially frightening because statistics from other countries show that boys who were themselves sexually victimized, after long years of repression, often release their anger and frustration in sexual assaults on others. The "victim to victimizer" cycle is the most difficult problem related to sex crime to overcome. Thus, the insistence in ROC criminal law on "male offenders" and "female victims" actually obscures reality.
The problem is that men don't think this way. Chang Chinli puts the blame for the difficulties of the past three years on two types of obstructionist views. The first kind, very "feudal" in nature, assumes that men must have complete control over sexual activity, and sees "sexual autonomy" as having a hidden agenda: "That's chaos. Are you trying to promote sexual liberation, or sexual license?" Men holding this view especially targeted the provisions in the original bill regarding "forced sexual behavior [rape] within marriage." Many male legislators saw this as "depriving husbands of their dignity and rights." "When you make love, must you worry that your wife is not happy? Will there be any interest left in the bedroom after this?"
Then there is another view which, though radically different from the one that says "the only important thing is that the man is satisfied" or "women are expected to make sacrifices," also frustrates Chang Chinli. It is one in which men set themselves up as "protectors" of women, and have no understanding and no interest in the true nature of sexual offenses.
People of this persuasion find it ridiculous to emphasize gender equality when talking about sex crime. "How could a man be assaulted? Isn't that a case of complaining when you've gotten what you wanted?" Or, "I've only heard that men should protect women; who ever heard of a man needing protection? If a man were to accuse a woman of raping him or harassing him, wouldn't that be counter to the original idea that we men must 'protect the weaker sex'?"
Given the powerful obstruction of such attitudes, the more controversial parts of the law had to be scrapped. The parts that passed are mostly peripheral elements, such as rape crisis management, compulsory treatment for offenders, and requirements for classes in sex crime prevention to be taught in primary and secondary schools. As for other issues-such as "what is the nature of sexual crime?" or "how should the two sexes deal with other and reach a middle ground with regard to sex?"-Chang Chinli says straight out, "I'm afraid there will still be battling back and forth in the future."
Where is the evil?
Wang Lijung, an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, observes that men often dismiss the topic of sexual crime as "a women's issue" or "a marginal issue." They are unwilling to make it an issue of public policy. At the National Conference on Public Safety held at the end of last year, there were six topics, including weapons, drugs, and organized crime, but sexual crime, which at that very moment was the subject of much discussion in society, was not among them.
With male leaders in the public realm this way, what do ordinary guys think? One male university student says with exasperation, once the subject turns to sex crime, "just being a man is like being marked with 'original sin'." He says that once he accompanied his girlfriend to a smallgroup discussion of the subject. But as soon as he ventured to say "sexual crime is related to relations between the sexes, and there is a need for both sides to reassess themselves," he was immediately assailed from all sides by the women there. Feeling uncomfortably like he was "surrounded by hostility, with people ready to pounce on the slightest thing any man would say," he just withdrew from the discussion. He describes his situation: "Whatever I said would just make me a scapegoat, so I just shut up."
Another man, an office worker, says that he is not willing to criticize sex offenders. This is not because he is afraid his "brothers" will accuse him of "betraying the fraternity of men," but because he recalls the words of the Bible: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
He says: "I would never go so far as to rape a woman. But to tease a girl with a few dirty jokes, or take advantage of crossing the street to take hold of a coworker's hand. . . . what man has never played these little games?" National Taiwan University architecture and planning institute director Pi Hengta, a strong supporter of women's rights, emphasizes: "Don't be so quick to put all the blame on the offenders and absolve yourself as a 'good guy.' Every man must look carefully in his own heart, and to stop the bad guys, one must start with oneself."
"In fact, every man has sexual fantasies and sexual needs that he hopes can be fulfilled at once, or even has ideas of rape," says Hung Yuyi, a lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology and Guidance at National Taiwan Normal University. As chairperson of the Mercy Memorial Foundation, which is devoted to research on the subject of sex, he is wellversed in the "bad guy" element in the male psychology. A survey taken overseas indicates that as many as half of men say that, if rape were not a crime, they would possibly rape someone themselves.
"This is the difference between X and Y," avers Jeng Cherngjye, senior attending physician in the OBGYN department at Mackay Memorial Medical Center, speaking from the medical point of view. Jeng, who is currently setting up a "Woman's Health Institute" at Mackay, contends, "This is the way the Creator arranged things. If Y were not aggressive, and merely waited passively, then this would be a disaster for the species."
Resignation and protection
Thus, Jeng strongly advocates that "the precondition to discussing gender equality is to start from the innate inequality between the sexes, then increase protection for women, to create a constructed equality." As for bold sexual liberation proposed by extreme women's activists, or the idea of "fighting violence with violence," Jeng feels neither is wise. "The vagina is a receptacle. Men can just do it and then run off, but women are left with the bitter fruits-pregnancy or disease. Not to mention the fact that the rate at which men transmit HIV to women is 20 times that at which women transmit the virus to men!"
In lectures, Jeng often gets questions like: What should one do if one finds oneself inadvertently in a dangerous situation? Based on her own understanding of the problem, Jeng gives practical advice. "There's no harm in at first pretending to go along. Say: 'Mister, you want me, and I'm feeling hot myself. But the mood isn't right here, not as good as if we went to a nice hotel. But I should tell you, I have a lot of white flow [leucorrhea], all given to me by that philandering husband of mine. If you're worried, first let's go and buy some condoms.'" Jeng advises, "Staying alive comes first." Try to turn the threatening person into a sexual counterpart; you can only consider other things when the threat of death is removed.
Of course, saying that there are innate gender differences is not to devalue women, but to increase protection. One example of this, Jeng points out, is the new "Rape Crisis Counseling Group" set up at Mackay, the first unit of its kind in Taiwan. Often, frightened and confused rape victims go to the doctor to have their injuries verified, only to find themselves turned away, mainly because, doctors complain, "it will be troublesome if I have to testify in court."
What's more, even when a doctor accepts a rape victim, he often just stops the bleeding and applies medicine, but has no idea that he should first collect evidence (e.g. the sperm or pubic hair of the rapist). Also, since physical injuries from rape are not necessarily as severe as, say, a bloody auto accident or burn, they are easily overlooked.
This is especially important because to convict for rape it is necessary to have proof of "violent compulsion, threats, drugs, or hypnosis making it impossible to resist." It is difficult to define what "impossible to resist" means in practice. Thus, only one in every ten reported cases (which are, remember, probably only 10% of actual cases) ends with a conviction. That means that of every 100 rapes, only one is punished under the law. This reflects the problem that victims are often not believed or have nowhere to take their appeals. Indeed, there are even doctors or judicial officers who scoff at victims: "It's not much. It sure doesn't look like rape to me." These deliberate and unwitting insults are a second blow to the victim. Therefore, these are key points for education in the rape crisis centers to be set up in every locality and hospital.
Sexual impulse vs. power run rampant
There is a scientific basis to the argument that "the two sexes are by nature unequal." But for a long time now women's rights advocates have tried to repress this argument to minimum visibility, or to deny it altogether. In discussions of sexual crimes, the main dispute has been: Are sex crimes by nature acts of men unable to control their sexual impulses? Or are they a form of violence, the crudest expression of male dominance and lust for control over women?
"If they are acts of sudden impulsiveness, this suggests that the fault lies with a small number of individuals who commit this animalistic act. The majority of men, who can control their sexual desires, are thus bystanders and have nothing to reassess about themselves. Sex crimes are considered 'idiosyncratic' behavior, occurring only between specified types of men and women, so there is no need to greatly restructure power relations between men and women." This point of view is seen by many feminists as, by design, favorable to males.
To avoid seeing all responsibility pushed onto "a small number of bad guys," feminists often draw attention to structural factors: women made into sex objects in TV ads, the highpriced bargirl culture where businessmen socialize, paternalistic family structures that place higher value on men than women. They point to all the "repressive" behaviors that are a builtin part of daily life, arguing that these are the true roots of rampant sexual criminal behavior.
The contrast between these two viewpoints can be most clearly seen by looking at several myths about rape.
The most deeply rooted such myth is that "the victim can't escape some responsibility," or, more crudely, "she must have been asking for it."
His crime, her fault?
Maria Cheng, who as director of the "Back to Authentic Self Counseling Center" has over many years had a great deal of contact with victims of sex crimes, points out that most people see victims as adult women with some "moral inadequacy." And their victimization is mainly due to factors that "can't be blamed on anyone else."
Cheng offers an example of this situation. In the sexual harassment cases that have occurred on university campuses over the last few years, no one ever inquires very deeply into the motives of the male teacher, but instead everyone expresses doubts about the behavior of the female student: Why did she so often go to the teacher's research room by herself? Why did she have meals with him? Is it a case of failed studentteacher romance, and now she is taking revenge by slandering the professor? Indeed, even in the horrifying case of Peng Wanju, there were often articles in the media talking about the victim's attire or actions: Why did she get into a taxi by herself at 11:00 at night? Was it the case that she wore eyecatching clothing and was slightly drunk in appearance, thus sparking lustful thoughts in the criminal and finally leading to her death?
"These kinds of ideas all reverse cause and effect, and there is no justification for them whatsoever," says Luo Tsanying, a professor of social psychology at the World College of Journalism. Statistics show that among rape victims in Taiwan, the age cohort accounting for the largest number of victims (more than 40%) is girls aged 12 to 18. Many of these rapes occur when the victims are on the way to school, or on the campus, in the park, or on the way home after school. Yet it may well be asked what these girls, dressed in their school uniforms, could possibly be wearing or doing that is flirtatious or provocative. This is even more the case for the 20% of victims who are under 12 years old, not yet even physically mature.
A similar myth of blaming the victim is reflected in the idea that "only attractive women need worry about sexual harassment." This takes the serious and degrading crime of sexual harassment and plays it down so that it even becomes a form of flattery. Pi Hungta takes as an example a comic strip he saw:
Woman: Last night in the alley I was accosted. What can I do to prevent it?
Man: Next time carry a flashlight.
Woman: How bright does it have to be to deter a criminal?
Man: Bright enough so that he can see what you look like.
The Academia Sinica's Chiao Hsingkai notes that it is often overlooked that both sexual harassment and rape are repeat offenses. If undiscovered, over a long period an offender may repeatedly play his degrading games. As for how he chooses his victims, that is still uncertain. However, it is often the case that the criminal will pick the easiestlooking target: young, unsophisticated, genteel looking girls. Thus, the focus of what should be improved should be on the "personal character" a woman projects. In other words, ironically, rather than teaching girls to act conservatively, it would be better that they be taught to appear decisive, brave, and assertive.
She only has herself to blame?!
Another myth that is bandied about is the one about "returning home late" or "going out at night." After the Peng Wanju case, women's groups organized a large march under the name "Let the Flame of Women's Rights Light Up the NightTime Roads," determined to win back for women the right to be out at night. The march attracted a lot of attention from bystanders. The boyfriend of one girl gave her some "cautionary advice": "You'd be better off to leave it to those pushy broads who don't fear death to take back their rights; you should try to be home by 9:00."
From a male chauvinist point of view, "What big affairs of state do these women have that they have to stay out until three in the morning anyway?" It seems like the nighttime world outside the home is entirely a male dominion. The only women who participate-bar hostesses, or women accompanying their male companions on dates-seem to be there only to fulfill the needs of the males.
According to this point of view, women returning home alone late at night are automatically suspected, to a certain degree, of "behavior unsuitable for a woman." If a woman meets a criminal, already predisposed to rape, who sees his opportunity to seize a sacrificial lamb, people respond by not only blaming the culprit but also saying things like "still, this woman was taking too big a chance, and was not careful enough." In fact, victims themselves often have such thoughts turning over in their heads, creating the ludicrous situation of "victims blaming themselves all their lives."
Kan Tienkui explains, "It's not that women really blame themselves. It's just that they regret having given the criminal the opportunity." In fact, the real problem is that evildoers have not been eliminated, and innocents-women who wouldn't hurt anyone-thereby have their freedom restricted. But, says Kan, "given that for the time being there is no way to make public order much better, it is inevitable to 'bow to circumstances' and put selfprotection foremost."
Looking again at the numbers, a survey in Taiwan shows that, while the hours from 7:00 pm to dawn are of course dangerous, about half of sex crimes are committed in the light of day. In a recent series of rapes in the Kaohsiung area, a man of small build and unprepossessing mien chose housewives home alone during the day as his victims. Using the pretext of being "employed by the building management to check water and electricity," he would wait until women let their guard down and opened the door, and then he would reveal his barbaric intentions. And at night, it is not necessarily the case that rape occurs because a woman is outside the home. Many rapes are committed by burglars who add rape to their offenses.
In sum, then, the chances of a woman being raped are not much different whether it be night or day, out of the home or indoors (more than 40% of rapes occur in private homes, mainly the victim's). In many cases, it does not even matter if the woman is not alone.
How much protection is enough?
The battlefield of the struggle for the right to be active is not limited to the night. Chiao Hsingkai points to cases of sexual harassment in the US as an example. It was discovered that in maledominated jobs-the military and police, construction workers, machinists-men use various roundabout methods to "mark their territory." Thus posters of naked women, impossible to avoid seeing, are put up in factories. Or construction workers will urinate openly right in front of passing women. It even happens that women scholars doing field research or female students supporting labor rights may find themselves in dangerous situations in such environments. Such actions are as good as saying outright: "Hey, this is a man's world here. Women should either get out or accept the rules of the game."
There is still another common myth about sex crimes, which is that "women are only violated by strangers." Luo Fujung, a guidance counselor at Wuchang Primary School in Taipei, designs roleplaying scenarios to teach her students how to deal with problems like: What do you do if you are followed by a stranger when you go home after school? What should you do if you are molested on the bus? But for her, the hardest question of all is when a student asks: "What should I do if I am violated at home?"
Statistics reveal that in about half of all rape cases the perpetrator is known to the victim. This is especially the case for crimes of molestation or rape against children, which are often committed by relatives or acquaintances from the home or neigh-borhood (fathers, stepfathers, uncles, older cousins, male neighbors). When girls get older, they must begin to guard against date rape and harassment by classmates on campus. And in the workplace, most sexual harassment is committed by people the victim sees every day.
Moreover, "acquaintance rape" is generally less violent than rape by a stranger. Therefore, under a maledominated legal system, and given the cultural script which calls for men to take the sexual initiative, the rate of conviction is very low. Indeed, victims often have no recourse at all. Worst of all, violation by a known person often leaves much deeper psychological and emotional scars on the victim than violence by a stranger.
Between reality and the ideal
Exposing these myths, it is easy to see that the shadow of rape and harassment hanging over women is not limited to a particular time, place, or person. Because this concern for physical safety must be maintained everywhere at all times, women can only "wrap themselves in a protective cocoon." The result is, as sex crime expert Huang Fuyuan says: The stronger sex, by sheer dint of a natural advantage, "seriously impairs the daily lives of women, disrupts their social networks, limits their living space, and restrains their talents and accomplishments."
"Of course women must understand how to protect themselves, but that shouldn't be the main focus of education or prevention policies. Anyway, most women are already on their guard. But still the number of sex crimes increases, so it's clear that the key is not there," stresses Maria Cheng. "Besides the powerful Y element in men, don't forget cultural and social factors that add fuel to the fire. If men and women were in positions of authority in equal numbers and with equal power, if male adults did not have such authority over children in the family, if there were not pornographic videos and performances everywhere, and, indeed, if the number of women around at night were greater, who would lightly dare to use his gender as a weapon to violate women?"
There is much fog surrounding sexual crime. Men have their say, women theirs. Men advise women to face reality, and accept their innate weakness and the social patterns that have developed over such a long time. Women want to change the current reality, and build an ideal country where men and women have equal rights and privileges. Can these two find common ground, and turn that into action? Time will tell.
p.8
It's dark out, and a woman returning home late by herself inevitably feels anxious about becoming the sacrificial lamb to some sexual "wolf." Where is the "freedom from fear" for women?
p.10
In front of a beautiful girl, the guys try to look serious, but their eyes cannot conceal their "secret." The photo was taken at a press conference marking the first issue of the Taiwan edition of Playboy. (photo by Diago Chiu)
p.11
Turn on the computer and there are naked women, while offcolor jokes are no big deal. A lot of thought needs to be given to
the problem of sexual harassment in
the workplace.
p.13
"Win the right for women to be out at night!" "Women want rights, not violence!" Can chanting slogans change the larger environment women face? (photo by Yang Wenching)
p.14
"When the older guy next door tries to harass her, the little girl is smart and runs away from the evil wolf!" Through roleplaying, children are taught to protect themselves from harm. The photo shows a class at the Wuchang Primary School in Taipei.
p.16
After eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve began to cover themselves up, the beginning of gender differentiation. The war between the sexes has raged for millenia; when will we return to the state of nature? ("Adam and Eve" by the Renaissance artist Lukas Cranach the Elder)
"Win the right for women to be out at night!" "Women want rights, not vi olence!" Can chanting slogans change the larger environment women face? （photo by Yang Wen-ching）
"When the older guy next door tries to harass her, the little girl is smart and runs away from the evil wolf!" Through role-playing, children are taught to protect themselves from harm. The photo shows a class at the Wuchang Primary School in Taipei.
After eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve began to cover themselves up, the beginning of gender differentiation. The war between the sexes has raged for millenia; when will we return to the state of nature? （"Adam and Eve" by the Renaissance artist Lukas Cranach the Elder）
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