Josephine Chuen-juei Ho is the chair of the English department of National Central University, Taiwan, and coordinator of its Center For the Study of Sexualities. She has withstood lawsuits directed at her outspokenness on gender and rights issues. She is one of the most known feminist scholars in Taiwan. She is called "the godmother of the Taiwanese queer movement."

Education

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the National Chengchi University, a Master of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Georgia and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Indiana University.

Activism

As an activist, Ho has been drawing attention to women's rights in Taiwan since the 1990s. Though there were no laws criminalizing sexual harassment at the time, sexual assaults on women were increasingly reported in the news after the first legal case on sexual harassment was heard in 1989. In May 1994, Ho led Taiwan's first demonstration against sexual harassment, and devised its slogan, "We don't want sexual harassment, we want orgasms. If you keep sexually harassing us, we'll cut it off with a pair of scissors!"

Zoophilia webpage incident

In April 2003, an article appeared in the China Times claiming that Ho's website had several pages that covered the topic of zoophilia and actively promoted the practice, with images. 13 conservative groups collectively filed a complaint accusing Ho of making obscenities available to children. This sensationalism led to thirteen Christian and conservative organizations collectively filing a complaint with the Taipei District Court. The process lasted for over one year, with a not guilty ruling returned on 15 September 2004, because the zoophilia pages were only one part of the website's essays and reports. Thus the incorporation of some pictures did not constitute an obscenity. The incident has been seen as an example of sensationalist media and received international attention as a perceived confrontation between conservative aspects of Taiwanese society and sexual freedom.

Selected publications

Honors and awards