Is feminism progressive enough? Interview with Ji Huirong: "The equivalent of abortion is the greatest stigma against women"

Ji has many identities.

She is the CEO of the Reed Foundation, which led Reed from Halfway House and the anti-prostitution movement to deepen the difficult face of care to gender-based violence, with female, gay, male sexual violence cases, and she is the Global Network for Women's Placement, The Chairman of GNWS, who is also the Chairman of the GnWS Foundation, organized the Fourth World Conference on Women's Asylum Placement in Asia in 2019, in Taiwan.

Social transport journalist son- and-born, Ji-si-synosis, who has also been a music teacher, advocated the goal of the initiative through art, she was both rational and emotional, told me, "The Reinforcement Foundation, is a continuous response to the needs of the times, the more difficult the more difficult to go." 」

Ji sister has many identities, and her favorite, perhaps as a helper, continues to stand on the front line, initiatives, actions, for the struggle for faith.

"Actually, I believe that Taiwan can match the world"

The 4th World Conference on Women's Asylum And Resettlement was held in Asia, and the enthusiastic Kaohsiung welcomed more than 1,400 advocates from 100 countries to gather for a common purpose and care - to end gender-based violence.

Gender-based violence is not a single problem, but a global phenomenon. Ji said that the fourth event should have been in Australia, the process because Of Australia to find resources difficult, Taiwan will bear down, said we come to do, not as the fourth to do in Asia.

The first three resettlement conferences were held in Europe and the United States, Edmonton, Canada, Washington, D.C., the United States, The Hague, and then came to Taiwan, has its representative significance. "In Asia, Taiwan is an important gender node, and Taiwan's social welfare does not lose out to the world. 」

Ms. Ji said there was pride on her face, and Taiwan's legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019, the first in Asia, attracted international attention and sparked a wave of discussion in Asia. Taiwan's domestic violence law was introduced in 1995, completed its third reading in 1998, and in 1999 it introduced a full civil protection order system, making it the first country in Asia to introduce domestic violence law.

"In fact, I believe that Taiwan can match the world. It's comparable, it's also a swap experience, and the fourth theme is Impact- Solidarity, and unity has influence. It's also about the preparation process for the event, with the public sector working with NGOs, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare contributing to the effort, as well as the direct support from the headquarters of FB, Uber, Airbnb and others. Solidarity, it's something that Ji's mouth keeps hanging. The strength of solidarity is not just a slogan, but a very practical action.

Women fans as the General Assembly co-operation media, watchJi sister in the scene, running around, participate in the press conference, we asked her tired, she looked bright, said how, excited is too late, "We need strategy and practical methods, we need to discuss and experience sharing, a person can not do things, must be a group of people together; structural problems, structural problems, It's going deep into the structure. 」

So at the site of the Resettlement Conference, an issue was thrown out from the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, Congo, Canada, India, Taiwan... The sound, there are cultural veins and practical applications, spread out difficulties, together to solve, I saw at the scene of the multi-integration should have happened.

Taiwan can serve as an open platform to nurture these sounds.

Let go of the gender framework, we can live happier

Male faces can also be seen at the event.

I chatted with Ji, when it came to gender-based violence, and it was easy for men to think that the gender movement was inherently hostile to themselves and suspected that they were sin-binned because of their gender, so they chose to avoid it, or to think that gender issues had nothing to do with themselves.

Ji said, when we talk about loosening the gender framework, not only for women, but also for men, "boys are long-term education, you can't cry, you have to suppress, so in the face of frustration, your fists go straight out." 'The importance of emotional education is here, telling your child that you can show vulnerability, and you don't just have a male trait to show, ' Says Ji Huirong.

Ji Huirong's words, there is a deep sense, "if people know that they can sunshine, can also be soft, will live happier." 」

Happiness, untie the gender frame, in order to become yourself, feel happy.

Feeling a lack of emotional education and a circular copy of male stereotypes, Reed in 2018 helped set up the "Taiwan Men's Association", a male-dominated advocacy organization, to sponsor initial funding and as secretary-general, "I particularly expect that the future male associations will be able to go out on their own and be involved in this matter on their own, " It's up to men, not just women, to support and advocate. 」

By men to tell their own stories, diverse, who no longer have to fight to be heroes, the next step in gender liberation, will be male liberation, dismantling the oppressive gender structure, loosening rigid gender roles, when women out of their own way, men also need to grow their own strength.

This may be the next battleground for the gender movement.

The real recovery is to find my life.

We talk about male liberation, and we talk about support and networks for victims of gender-based violence.

True recovery is not only to make the victim protected and feel safe, but also to help the victim, after Power, to regain the identity of the subject and desire - the victim also wants to have a "victim" other than the identity.

The real recovery is that they find their lives back.

Through dramatic therapy, Reed inspires those who experience gender-based violence to find their "voices," substantively and psychologically, and then builds self-identification from victims to survivors to advocates. In particular, Ji stressed, "We should not be the voice of the victims, the victims must speak for themselves." 」

Speak for yourself, there are stages of difference, from dissociation and aphasia, to find the power of the message back, "there are many ways to say, some cases write books, some participate in the troupe, in the course of drama therapy, you see a lot of people who are very flinching, you see it is a violated /injured body, and then, how they through re-linking with the body, find freedom." 」

Reinforcement is not urgent, slow and gentle.

Combined with the art initiative, set off the collective concern of the community, is not a recent case, but Ji Jie came along the practice and care, with her early study of music, "I have always felt that art should have a greater impact." 」

In the early years, The Reinforcement promoted the anti-prostitute movement, and Cai Ruiyue dance united, touring all over the country, from the performance hall, to the street scene, to speak to the public. In 1995, "The Adventures of urban girls" performed in the square in front of the Taipei City Art Museum, put on an eagle stand, the ground scattered about ten cards of sand, seven female dancers, a male dancer, on the eagle rack dance, performance pain, performance violence, performance death.

Even now, it's avant-garde.

Social movement as a long-term resistance, art as an initiative, very gentle, very personal, and very effective - when we talk about issues and structures, do not forget that behind, in fact, is a real suffering person.

Equigizing abortion with infanticide is the biggest stigma against women

Inter-session interviews, we have in recent years gender agenda one by one, Ji sister also did not shy away from talking about the abortion referendum controversy.

"In terms of reinforcements, we are certainly against it. Children and mothers are each other, and what we need to do is not to turn off the road to termination of pregnancy, but to preserve the opportunity to choose. She added, "How could a woman's body be a referendum decision?" Many people who voted referendum can't live. 」

The eight-week bill, also known as the Heartbeat Act, treats women who choose to terminate their pregnancies as "sloppy", "unthinking" and "irresponsible" executioners.

Ji Huirong said that in Reed, she has seen too many pregnant women's struggles, perhaps small mothers, perhaps after rape unexpected pregnancy, she pointed out that abortion is equivalent to infanticide is very rough, and is the biggest stigma against women, "every mother when pregnant, there are a lot of struggle." If she evaluates all the conditions, does not have the ability, does not have the will, does not fit, she should have the right to choose. 」

"The name Heartbeat Act is to cede the power of interpretation to the opposition. Ji Huirong added that if from a woman's point of view, it may have been more than eight weeks before the pregnancy was found, in medicine, eight weeks can not do amniocentesis and other fetal examination, not in line with the principle of maternal priority, if the choice of termination of pregnancy is equivalent to the hasty of the individual, it is even more neglecting the maternal subject, regardless of its congenital and acquired conditions.

Ji said very frankly, she had received a church friend said that if reeds supporting any issues, do not donate to you, comrades and abortion are the same, she smiled and said, "I am a Christian, the essence of what we do is love, can do is to communicate patiently." I believe this can be parallel and not conflict. 」

She said, Don't see brothers suffer, say against him, but support him. No, she had a signature smile.

That power is on you, you just need to get it back.

Ji jie did gender movement, along the way, nearly thirty years. Movement has its beauty, naturally also has its injury, after all, is a long time with malicious, hurt, violence face-to-face.

She said she believed in the Lord, especially in the belief that "God gives everyone an image of glory and beauty, and it is a reflection of His glory." Everyone has, in every person, all that is needed is to get it back. 」

Exercise is longer than gas, asked her if she has any advice, want to set foot on this road for the future generations and companions, "the most important thing is faith." She thought about it and said, "You get a lot of power from the person you're being served to, and when you see a change in society, that's a big reward." 」

Perhaps that picture is such, once thought that only their own alone, carrying a candle to the dark, and then suddenly look back, found behind, there is a fire, has been bright, only found that the original has gone so far.

Ji sister, that is, very early, on the fire put those people.