2015-10-11
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Located on No. 70, Taiping Road, North District, the Taichung Girls Museum is close to the Taiping Elementary School (太平國小) and in the neighborhood of Yizhong Shopping District (一中商圈) and Taichung University of Science and Technology (臺中科技大學), and enjoys convenient transportation. It has a novel exterior visual design, and provides space for exhibition and creation, girl warm conversation, rhythm stretching and other training courses. Service personnel are stationed to help girls realize their plans and dreams.
Guests attending the inauguration ceremony included Mayor Lin; Lue Jen-der (呂建德), Director-general of Social Affairs Bureau; Tsai Shi-yin (蔡世寅), Director-general of Civil Affairs Bureau; Gao Zhi-hong (高誌鴻),Chief of North District; City Councilors Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華), Lai Jia-wei (賴佳微),Chen Zheng-shiang (陳政顯), and Van Sung-yi (范淞育); Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容),CEO of Garden of Hope Foundation; and Asian girl human rights ambassadors from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and other places. They were present to witness the establishment of an exclusive space for girls and the effort to move Taichung City towards gender-friendliness and care for girls.
Mayor Lin said, “October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child and it is also the Taiwan Girls Day. When I was a legislator in 2012, I already worked with the Garden of Hope Foundation to propose the setup of Taiwan Girls Day. Luckily, my proposal was passed on October 11, 2013, and I should have won the respect back from my daughter!
"Women should be given the same footing as men, so that they have opportunities to develop their own career. As Mayor of Taichung City, I am very happy to take the lead in setting up the first ‘Girls Museum’ in the country. I hope that in addition to the school, women can have another space to learn and grow, showcase their talent, and get more support from the community.
“We are aware that girls may suffer more discrimination than boys in their growth process, because of the traditional concept of patriarchy. In the past, only boys went to school, while girls were forced to become child brides or enter into an arranged marriage. Even today, we have still heard stories going like women being less likely to get promoted to executive positions in the workplace. Such phenomena are even more serious in the East than the West. That’s why the story of Malala, a Pakistani activist for female education, has grasped the international attention.
"To help the girls is to help our community! I hope private companies and organizations will inject more resources to promote the interests for girls, just like what we do in setting up the Taichung Girls Museum. I hope Taichung will become the friendliest city for gender equality and female rights.”
The operation of Taichung Girls Museum is entrusted to the Garden of Hope Foundation, whose CEO Chi Hui-jung said, "Taichung Girls Museum is the pride of Taichung citizens because it is the first such organization in Taiwan and in Asia as well. The Girls Museum is expected to change the fate of girls from those gloomy situations of forced marriage, child marriage, no opportunity of education or unequal treatment. The Taiwan Girls Day has entered its third anniversary this year. I hope more people will give the girls more opportunities to grow.”
Litana (莉塔娜),Asian girl human rights ambassador from Nepal, said, “The most important thing in constructing a girl-friendly city is to have related policies and laws implemented and to encourage girls to stand up to fight for their own rights. Many girls in South Asian countries have still been forced into child marriage. I hope such phenomenon be stopped as early as possible.”
After the opening ceremony of Taichung Girls Museum, the Social Affairs Bureau hosted the "21st Century Girl Special Exhibition" to tell the history of women and girls fighting for equal rights, screened 4 movie sessions for Taiwan International Women Make Waves Film Festival and held 6 sessions of Gender Salon. A series of exciting programs and activities to explore gender perspectives will be held in the future, said the Social Affairs Bureau. “Girls in Taichung area are welcome to make good use of the resources of Taichung Girls Museum. To get the latest information and services, please call its Helpline at 04-22230690, or visit Facebook page of Taichung Girls Museum,” added the Social Affairs Bureau.
unit:綜合企劃科
