Peng Wan-ru

Who was Peng Wan-ru?

Peng Wan-ru was a feminist Taiwanese politician. The director of the Democratic Progressive Party's Women's Affairs Department, Peng advocated for the safety and development of women. Peng married Hung Wan-sheng and gave birth to a son.

In November 1996, Peng disappeared in Kaohsiung, Taiwan; the public last saw her board a yellow Ford Telstar taxi after a DPP meeting the night prior to a DPP convention. She was discovered raped and murdered outside of an abandoned warehouse in Kaohsiung County; her body had more than 30 stab wounds. Despite extensive investigation, the police were unable to solve the crime. At least 70,000 Taiwanese taxi drivers had their fingerprints analyzed in an effort to find Peng's killer. Hung said that he felt frustrated that the killer was not found.

Peng's murder produced an outcry against a perceived lack of protection given to women in Taiwan. Peng's proposed quota for one fourth of the seats of the elected seats to be reserved for women passed during the November 30, 1996 DPP National Congress meeting; the public believes that Peng died during that day.