Taiwan is there�An Active participant
For Battered Women care

Grace  Tsyr-En Wu 
Pastor  of  Presbyterian  Church  in  Taiwan,
Director  of  Kaohsiung  Christian  Counseling          
Center,  Taiwan.   
Joh-Jong Huang
Department of Family Medicine, 
Yuan’s General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Introduction                                  
Marital violence is now a common problem in Taiwan. Not long before one decade ago, the society of Taiwan began to pay attention to this intimate injury. With startlingly high-speed increasing numbers of marital violence each year, the helping professionals work with heavy loads in managing people with this kind of violence. As we know, marital violence is a problem of various combinations of biopsychosocial needs.  Under the influence of culture, endemicity is another important factor contributing to the complexity of marital violence.  In order to offer effective services to help people with marital violence, the aims of this study are to reveal the regional characteristics and experiences of marital violence in Taiwan.  

Methods and materials
In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the record charts of  the  cases  of  marital  violence  via  content  analysis  in  Kaohsiung  Christian  Family  Counseling  Center  in  the  period  between  March  1996  and  February  1998. The parameters associated with the characters and demands of battered women were set up after the reviewing analysis of marital violence literature. The characters and demands of battered women were shown as frequencies in descriptive analysis. The relationships between major issues and the parameters were analyzed by Chi Square test with correction by Pearson’s test or Fisher’s exact test. And we used discriminate analysis to correlate the demands of battered women and associated variables.

Results
There were totally 427 battered women included in this study in this 2-year period. The peak age group of battered women was between 35 and 44 (190, 44.5% ); the second, between 25 and 34 (143,33.5%). The commonest vocation of battered women was homemaker (206, 48.2%). The education level of battered women distributed as: elementary school or lower, 30 (7.0%); junior high school, 82 (19.2%); senior high school, 175 (41.0%); college or higher, 139 (32.6%). The age of batterers was slightly older than battered women, with still peak age group between 35 and 44 (190, 44.5%). The commonest vocation of batterers was small business owner (143, 33.5%), labourers were the second (97, 22.7%). The education level of batterers is  istributed as: elementary school or lower, 17 (4.0%); junior high school, 69 (16.2%); senior high school, 144 (33.7%); college or higher, 165 (38.7%). The length of arriage of the couples reporting violent incidents was less than one year, 7 (1.0%) 1 to 3 years, 38 (8.9%); 4 to 7 years, 82 (19.2%); 8 to 12 years, 81 (19.0%); 13 to 18 years, 97 (22.7%); longer than 18 years, 93 (21.8%).  Most  of  the  couples  were  of  the  nuclear  family  style,  287 (67.2%).  There  were  50 (11.7%)  battered  women  who  suffered  violence  in  the  premarital  stage.  46 (10.8%)  battered  women  were  assaulted  when  pregnant.  The  violent  incidents  reported  took  place  at  the  following  stages  of  the  marital  relationship:  less  than  one  year,  177 (41.5%);  1  to  3  years,  78 (18.3%);  4  to  7  years,  59 (13.8%);  longer  than  7  years,  109 (25.5%).  In  52  incidents (12.2%)  children  suffered  violence  at  the  same  time.  In  204  cases  children  witnessed  the  violence  against  the  women.  The  types  of  violence  were:  physical  assault,  337 (78.9%);  verbal  assault,  83 (19.7%);  object  assault,  26 (6.1%);  psychological  assault,  369 (86.4%);  sexual  assault,  54 (12.6%).  Most  of  the  battered  women  (234, 54.8%)  treated  their  injuries  privately,  and  some  received  medical  care  (64, 15.0%)  or  were  admitted  to  hospital  (25, 5.9%).  (289)67.7%  of  battered  women  reported  being  assaulted  during  quarrels,  but  39.3%  (168)  were  assaulted  without  any  warning  sign.  The  causes  of  marital  violence  were  rather  heterogeneous:  poor  communication,  261 (61.1% );  having  an  affair,  161 (37.7%);  financial  problems,  97 (22.7%).  Parenting  problems,  mental  illness,  unemployment,  sexual  difficulty,  alcoholism,  drug  abuse  and  gambling  were  all  cited  as  causes.  The  future  plans  of  these  battered  women  were:  divorce,  177 (41.5%);  improving  marriage,  122 (28.0%);  uncertainty,  86 (20.1%).  The  plans  were  of  significant  difference  with  frequency  of  marital  violence:  of  divorce  when  the  frequency  was  higher,  and  of  improving  marriage  when  the  frequency  was  lower.  The  possibility  of  child  abuse  was  of  significant  association  with  1)  the  frequency  of  marital  violence  2)  children  as  witnesses  3)  childhood  abuse  experience  of  the  batterers.  The  demands  of  battered  women  were:  psychological  support,  359 (84.1%);  psychological  counseling,  288 (67.6%);  marriage  assessment,   263 (61.0%);  legal  counseling,  165 (38.4%);  self-protection,  155 (36.3%).  Shelter  (13, 3.0%),  economic  support  (25, 5.9%),  medical  care  (22, 5.2%)  and  spiritual  care  (13, 3.0%)  were  all  needed,  though  less  common.  The  discriminate  analysis  of  the  demands  revealed  significant  relationships  between:  1)  psychological  support  with  having  an  affair  and  poor  communication;  2)  medical  care  with  mental  illness;  3)  shelter  with  alcoholism,  drug  abuse  or  gambling;  4)  legal  counseling  with  alcoholism,  drug  abuse  or  gambling  and  having  an  affair;  5)  self-protection  with  having  an  affair,  poor  communication,  financial  problems  and  the  violent  personality  of  batterers;  6)  economic  support  with  financial  problem;  7)  marriage  assessment  with  having  an  affair,  poor  communication,  financial  problems  and  the  violent  personality  of  batterers;  8)  psychological  counseling  with  unemployment.  The  uses  of  resources  by  battered  women  were:  medical  community,  91 (21.3%);  police,  10 (2.3%);  legal  aid,  29 (6.8%);  official  welfare  institute,  21 (4.9%);  Non-governmental  welfare  institute,  this  center,  427 (100%).  Informal  supportive  resources  were  also  used,  209 (48.9%).

Discussion
According  to  the  results,  there  are  monumental  tasks  for  the  helping  professionals  to  supply  enough  comprehensive  services  for  battered  women.  Victims  of    marital  violence  in  Taiwan  are  similar  to  those  in  Western  societies,  with  rather  heterogeneous  regional  characteristics.  Social  workers  alone  cannot  meet  the  multiple  demands  brought  to  them.  Multidisciplinary  team  work  should  be  set  up  for  more  efficient  help.  Marital  violence  may  take  place  at  any  stage  of  the  marriage,  by  any  form,  in  any  class  in  the  community  so  that  direct  and  convenient  services  should  be  available  in  the  community.  Transgenerational  phenomena  such  as:  childhood  abuse  experience  of  the  batterers,  frequent  child  abuse  and  experience  of  marital  violence  in  the  home  all  remind  the  helping  professionals  of  the  need  of  family-oriented  services.  The  diversity  demands  can  only  be  met  via  active  programs  of  education,  prevention,  treatment  and  rehabilitation.

Conclusion
Taiwans  Christian  Churches  are  active  in  social  concern  work  from  a  whole  person  perspective.  This  includes  concern  for  and  intervention  in  the  lives  of  battered  women.  This  is  not  only  a  matter  of  Theological  speculation,  as  it  would  be  to  seek  somewhere  in  the  stories  of  Jesus  an  incident  of  liberating  a  battered  woman.  The  churches  involved  in  ministry  to  battered  women  see  Jesus  in  his  general  role  of  identification  with  the  weak  and  oppressed.  The  power  of  Christ  is  actualized  in  opposition  to  evil  and  injustice.  Naturally,  this  includes  opposition  to  patriarchal  systems  which  oppress  women.  Churches  are  now  accepting  the  call  to  participate  continually  and  vigorously  in  gender  issues.  These include the renewal of women; gender equality and reconciliation; and bringing pressure to bear for action rather than for “talk”.  It is hoped that in these ways Taiwans Churches can become agents of women’s release from suffering.

Correspondent Address:
10 F-8, 23, Chung-Hwa 3rd Rd.,
Kaohsiung city, Taiwan.