In a press conference today, the five international women's rights experts invited to Taiwan by the Executive Yuan's Department of Gender Equality (DGE) to review the ROC's second national report on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) elucidated their conclusions and suggestions for how Taiwan may further enhance protection of women's rights.
Minister without Portfolio Feng Yen, who headed the government delegation for the review, expressed her respect and gratitude to the five experts for their hard work throughout a tight schedule of meetings over the course of three days.
Feng stated that although the ROC is not a member of the United Nations, it is proactively enforcing the CEDAW with the government's determination and private-sector supervision. To ensure the improvements recommended by the experts are implemented, the government will set up a monitoring and management mechanism to track the relevant competent authorities and have them implemented in order to conform to the spirit of the nation's human rights report and demonstrate the national policy objective of actively promoting women's rights, she affirmed.
Heisoo Shin of South Korea chaired the review panel; the four other members were Denise Scotto of the United States, Mary Shanthi Dairiam of Malaysia, Rea Abada Chiongson of the Philippines and Violet Tsisiga Awori of Kenya. Based on the U.N. CEDAW report review model, the committee went over the ROC's CEDAW national report article by article while fully exchanging views with relevant private groups.
The review was convened at the Howard Civil Service International House from June 23 to 25.
Over 100 non-governmental organization (NGO) members as well as 200 representatives of agencies from all five branches of the government (the Executive, Judicial, Legislative, Examination and Control Yuans) participated in the conference. The five women's rights experts were very impressed with this display of the social and national momentum and expressed hope that ROC government agencies continue to strengthen their interactions and opinion exchanges with NGOs.
The experts concluded their review with 35 recommendations for improvement, covering 15 aspects:
1. Taiwan's legal system respecting gender equality.
2. Establishment of an independent national human rights institution.
3. National mechanisms respecting women's rights and gender mainstreaming.
4. Assessment of CEDAW-related training and its impact.
5. Accessibility of courts and the justice system.
6. Gender roles and stereotyping.
7. Media responsibility.
8. Trafficking and exploitation of women.
9. Prevention of violence against women and girls.
10. Participation in political and public life.
11. Education and training.
12. Equality of employment and economic opportunity.
13. Health rights.
14. Disadvantaged women in special circumstances such as living in the countryside, being of indigenous origin or having physical or mental handicaps.
15. Marriage and family life.
The experts paid especially close attention to the review indices and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming and for ensuring that all laws and regulations conform with the CEDAW. They also showed great concern about the mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of gender equality education and training.
With regard to equal opportunity to work, the experts recommended continued active promotion of protection of the rights and interests of domestic care-takers. The government should also pay attention to the phenomenon of gender segregation in higher education and its effect on gender disparities in Taiwan's labor market, they added.
Concerning educational rights, the government should incorporate gender diversity into gender equality teaching materials and continue proactive effort to prevent sexual harassment and bullying on school campuses, the experts said. Additionally, assistance measures should be strengthened to support pregnant teens' return to schooling. With regard to the legal protection, rights and welfare of diverse family formations, a subject that has drawn great concern in Taiwan's society, the government should establish relevant statistical data in order to evaluate and formulate related policies, the experts suggested.
For more information, please consult the conclusions and recommendations of the review committee:
English-language PDF: http://www.gec.ey.gov.tw/Upload/RelFile/1419/714976/18f2f57a-c597-4d29-8885-1228be52a242.pdf
Chinese-language PDF: http://www.gec.ey.gov.tw/Upload/RelFile/1419/714976/c93cff7c-973c-4d4e-a804-9e694e37d3ec.pdf