Taiwan ranks highest in Asia for gender equality. In politics, Taiwan far exceeds the U.S. on metrics of gender balance, boasting a two-term female head of state and nearly gender parity in the Legislative Yuan. But gender-related discrepancies persist, particularly in the defense space.
Despite progress in addressing gender equality, women still face cultural and structural barriers to inclusion and advancement in the Taiwanese military. According to Christina Chen (方琮嬿), an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, Taiwanese women tend to trust the military less than men and show less interest in defense-related news. Other research shows that women are less willing than men to participate in the defense of Taiwan.
However, gender in the context of civil defense is uniquely shaped by culture and politics in Taiwan. Civil defense goes beyond traditional defense and security to encapsulate issues like psychological preparedness, energy infrastructure, telecommunications, resource procurement and more.
As Wen Liu (劉文), a Taiwanese scholar conducting fieldwork on the rise of grassroots civil defense mobilization in Taiwan, highlights in her research, some feminist and queer scholarship on war preparedness and militarization argues that these efforts are inherently masculine, oppressive and state-driven. But Liu argues that in Taiwan, civil defense reform has been largely driven by civil society, and war preparedness encapsulates not just traditional warfare, but also more mundane forms of ongoing hybrid warfare such as disinformation.
As a result of the public’s complex feelings toward defense — including anxiety about provoking China, distrust of the military and ambivalence toward defense reform — civil defense efforts in Taiwan deemphasize militarization. For example, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee (全社會防衛韌性委員會) focuses on not on traditional military/defense training, but on psychological defense, emergency medical response and critical infrastructure. And civil society groups tend to stay away from militaristic activities like shooting practice so as not to scare participants off or attract unwanted attention from the government.
Interestingly, while there is significant gender disparity in the military, many civil society groups focused on defense, resilience and humanitarian aid draw more women than men. In Liu’s study of grassroots civil defense efforts in Taiwan, she has found that over 60% of participants are women. Liu believes the reason greater numbers of women participate in civil defense organizations is that they want to better understand what their role during conflict would be because unlike men, they are not conscripted for military service. “[I]t’s really important that we know how to take care of ourselves,” Liu said.
Research shows that Taiwanese women are more concerned about a potential war with China and feel less confident about handling the impacts of a war — this might be another reason why women are more likely to engage with civil defense organizations.
“A healthy dose of anxiety is good because … [it’s] a motivator,” said Liu, adding that in Taiwan, “most people are numbed to war because they don’t know how to think about it.” Liu wants people to foster awareness and the ability to objectively analyze risk. Kuma Academy, a prominent Taiwanese civil defense organization, provides workshops to encourage this reframing and “prepare a pre-war mentality for civilians.”
Another reason that newer civil defense organizations like Kuma attract many women might be that longstanding humanitarian organizations have also included larger numbers of women. Tzu Chi, a Taiwanese Buddhist humanitarian organization, boasts 70% women volunteers. It is also one of Taiwan’s only organizations broadly related to civil resilience led by a woman. Master Cheng Yen (證嚴法師) founded Tzu Chi more than 50 years ago along with 30 housewives following her realization that women didn’t need to be relegated to the house, but could shoulder greater responsibility in their community, said Joe Wang (王運敬), Director of the Office of the CEO at Tzu Chi.
Finally, it might not necessarily be the case that women are more willing to engage with civil defense, but that men are less willing. Calvin Chu (朱晏辰), a former a research associate at the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) mission in the U.S., said that men in particular might be averse to getting involved in defense-related activities due to having negative feelings toward their mandatory military training. It’s Chu’s impression that most young people view their mandatory military service as a waste of time. Research shows low morale among conscripts stems from a widespread feeling that it is disruptive to their lives. Willingness to contribute to Taiwan’s defense not only needs to be instilled in the people who would be able to join the front lines, but also their families, said Chu. A worry of Chu’s is that in the event of a Chinese invasion, parents would implore their children to stay at home instead of joining the military.
Even if fewer Taiwanese women participated in civil defense than currently do today, they likely would be mobilized during an invasion. During war, Taiwan would need to “utilize every resource and every person [until] … the United States and other partners or allies come to support Taiwan’s defense,” said Chu. Chu added that Taiwan has learned from Eastern European countries that are threatened by Russia that the resilience of the entire society is crucial in this type of conflict.
Indeed, Hanna Hopko, Chairwoman of the ANTS network and former Ukrainian MP, says her experience defending Ukraine has taught her that war leaves no choice but to mobilize all of society, regardless of gender. “Women are everywhere, and now no one is paying attention,” said Hopko, adding that the idea that women can’t occupy certain roles, whether that be in the economy or the military, is “very outdated, very obsolete, because women already confirmed in practice that they are capable.”
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