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About us

WHO WE ARE 

The Awakening Foundation is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit legal and legislative advocacy organization fighting for gender equality and women's empowerment in Taiwan. Born out of Taiwan's democratic movement under martial law in the 1970s and 80s, the Awakening Foundation was founded on the revolutionary idea that women should be empowered in both public and private life. Since 1982, the Foundation has been at the forefront of every major legal and policy victory for women in Taiwan.  

As trailblazers in Taiwanese feminist activism, the Awakening Foundation has spearheaded cultural and political change to dismantle oppressive patriarchal institutions and norms through public education campaigns and grassroots organizing. Our work promotes women's leadership and political participation, gender parity in the workplace, reproductive rights and education, and family law and justice, among other issues. 

HERSTORY

Four decades ago (1982), the Awakening Publishing House and its feminist magazine were founded to challenge the marginalization of women activists in Taiwan's democracy movement and the disempowerment of women in Taiwanese culture and society. The publisher was the country's only non-government affiliated women's organization in Taiwan explicitly committed to promoting gender equality until martial law was lifted in 1987. The magazine shaped and advanced Taiwan's feminist discourse, often discussing controversial topics such as the domestication and subjugation of women by and under their husbands. The publishing house facilitated open forums and lectures on the cultural objectification of women in the media, gender-biased civil and penal codes, and regressive marital and familial relations. 

With the beginning of Taiwan's formal democratization in 1987, the publishing house was formally restructured into the Awakening Foundation with a mandate for nonpartisan lobbying for pro-woman legislative reforms. The organization was led by a board of leading gender scholars, civil rights lawyers, and activists and consisted of just six or seven full-time staff members. The Foundation's early work focused on the legalization of abortion and ending child sex trafficking. Along with a coalition of civil society organizations, it went on to successfully lobby for amendments to the Civil Code; the passage of landmark legislation concerning domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment, and gender equality in employment and education; and the establishment of a permanent gender policy committee in the Executive Yuan. 

Since 1994, the Awakening Foundation has trained dozens of volunteers to provide legal assistance and counseling on gender-related and domestic issues. Our hotline currently reaches more than 2,000 people annually. In the mid-90s, the Foundation also launched a public speaking and leadership training program to prepare female candidates for political campaigns. In 1995, the monthly magazine was replaced with a quarterly journal which continues to amplify diverse perspectives within Taiwan's feminist movement today. 

In recent years, the Foundation has advocated for federal family leave entitlements and paid leave for long-term care; mandatory workplace anti-discrimination policies; bodily integrity, freedom of sexual choice, and consent culture; LGBTQIA+ rights; and gender mainstreaming in Taiwanese media, education, and the judicial system. We have amplified the voices of those living with HIV/AIDS, migrant workers, and countless other women in Taiwan's health and labor justice movements.

MISSION

The Awakening Foundation believes in the power of grassroots organizing and legal advocacy to advance gender justice. Delivering a whole-of-society approach to gender issues, we work to create meaningful social, economic, and political change in households, workplaces, and public offices. We get women elected, secure legal protections for nontraditional families and migrant workers, and protect the fundamental right to sexual, marriage, and reproductive choice. Until gender equality becomes a reality for each and every individual in Taiwan, we have a responsibility to champion the equal treatment and dignity of society's most vulnerable.   

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