Social segregation and the health care of female immigrants in Taiwan

Technology has reduced the distance between people, and also blurred the boundaries between nations. In recent years the development of Taiwan society has been affected by cross-national marriages. In these cases, the foreigner - usually the female - living in a new country and adapting to the pressures of being in a new society very different from her own, is also confronted by a succession of social distinctions and differentiating selection processes, giving rise gradually to the phenomenon of social segregation in culture, language and marriage. Such segregation has in turn led gradually to inferior medical care for female immigrants. It is therefore worth investigating whether the current medical system can offer appropriate health care to the female immigrant. This article's approach is to discuss trans-national marriage and analyze the living situations of female immigrants, to investigate their social segregation, and hence their situation in relation to medical care. It also prompts more advanced reflection, on the part of clinical professional caregivers, of the needs of female immigrants, in the hope that those needs will become the subject of greater interest and attention.