Women in prison in Taiwan

Summary

INTRODUCTION

A discussion of prison or correction has never been a very popular topic in Taiwan. Society and scholars pay little attention to prisoners, particularly women prisoners, and, as a result, the treatment of women in prison, who are the minority, does not attract the attention of many. Consequently, the legislature responded by enacting many statutes that aim to help prisoner rehabilitation and cater to their needs while in prison. In 2008, the Constitutional Court began to review statutes regulating the care of people while in custody, resulting in the human rights of detainees and prisoners being included under the shield of constitutional protection. Additionally, the correctional authority adopted many policies for female prisoners that were not explicitly required by the relevant statutes, resulting in correctional treatments slightly different from the present statutes. Of significant impact as regards women inmates, the ratification of several international human rights conventions and the implementation ofthose conventions, while not likely to present immediate changes to current policies, statutes and practice, will certainly change the legal framework with respect to female prisoners in the very near future.

This discussion will explain the correction practices toward the women in Taiwan by examining the international human rights conventions that Taiwan has adopted, the statistics on women in crime, their detention, related statutes, and the face value of the treatments and measures that have been adopted. This examination will show that the conditions of women in prison and detention centers have been significantly improved and, with Taiwan's continued reform of the legal framework regarding female prisoners, will continue to achieve notable improvements comparable to the international human rights standards very soon.

INTERNATIONAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS FRAMEWORK

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Republic of China (ROC) had held membership of the United Nations (UN), but lost its seat in 1971 and has not been readmitted since. Moreover, Taiwan has not received recognition as an independent nation by most countries, rendering participation in most international organizations extremely difficult. In spite of those obstacles, Taiwan has managed to gain membership of several international economic organizations, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the World Trade Organization.