Yan-Han Wang

Yan-Han Wang is a PhD Student in the Department of Politics and International Studies, where her research is situated at the critical intersection of social movements, gender studies, law and society, and Taiwan Studies. Her doctoral project, provisionally titled Fighting the Illusion of Gender Equality: The Revival of Sex Workers’ Rights in Taiwan Since 2020, uses a multi-method design to explore the strategic resurgence of the sex worker rights movement in Taiwan following the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.  

Her work examines the innovative strategies emerging organizations employ—whose activist composition and approach are distinct from earlier sex worker rights groups—to navigate the critical dialectic between anti-pornography feminism and the 'sex work is work' coalition (comprising sex industry workers and human rights groups). By focusing on this previously marginalized component of Taiwan’s social movement landscape, the research explores the intersectional political and social issues facing highly stigmatized groups, thereby challenging the state's narrative of achieving 'gender equality'.  

Wang’s academic foundation is built upon an LLM in Law and Interdisciplinary Studies from National Chengchi University, Taiwan. Her master's dissertation, Legal Consciousness from the Perspective of Solidarity: Nurses' Agency against Workplace Sexual Harassment, demonstrated her early commitment to exploring how less powerful group utilize legal consciousness and social solidarity to resist institutional and workplace pressures. Her broader academic interest spans the politics of sexuality, feminist legal theories, and the implementation of anti-discrimination laws. 

The unique strength of Wang’s research lies in its profound grounding in political and advocacy experience. She currently serves as the Member of the Executive Board of the Taiwan Sex Industry and Workers' Rights Association, a key rights advocacy organization, providing her with invaluable, insider insights into the strategies, challenges, and structural barriers facing the movement in Taiwan. 

Furthermore, she previously served as the Secretary-General of the Green Party Taiwan, managing legislative campaigns, and as the Representative of Taiwan to the Asia Pacific Greens Federation Women's Network. These roles allowed her to observe and engage with gender-related phenomena and equality mechanisms within the masculinized political arena.  These combined academic and practical foundations are expected to be highly valuable to her doctoral research, enabling her to generate empirically grounded insights. 

• Social Movements and Activism: Collective political mobilization, advocacy strategies, framing processes, and movement trajectories in East Asia, particularly focusing on the post-2020 resurgence of the sex worker rights movement.
• Gender and Politics: The politics of sexuality, agency, feminist legal theories (especially the conflict between neo-abolitionism and sex-positive rights), and gender equality mechanisms in political parties and public policy.
• Law and Society: Legal consciousness, regulatory contradictions, and the implementation of anti-discrimination and human rights laws, with a focus on how stigmatized groups use legal frameworks.
• Taiwan Studies: Contemporary Taiwanese politics, civil society organizations, and the unique development of its legal and social regulatory context for the sex industry