Today (November 8th, 2023) at the “Forum on Policies Regarding Women and Gender Issues: Anniversary of the Fourth International Review of the National Report on CEDAW,” Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (hereinafter “the NHRC”) Chen Chu made opening remarks that Taiwan’s status of gender equality has been the best in Asia for years in a number of international ratings. In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legally protect same-sex marriage, officially moving from equality between two genders to equality among diverse genders. Nevertheless, collaboration between public and private sectors is required to address emerging human rights issues arising from the development of digital technology.
The “Forum on Policies Regarding Women and Gender Issues” has been an important occasion for the Foundation for Women’s Rights Promotion and Development (hereinafter “the FWRPD”) to communicate with civil society and academia on women’s rights and gender issues over the years. This year, the event was held in cooperation with the NHRC for the first time.
According to Chairperson Chen, feminist organizations have been bravely devoted to women’s human rights since the martial law period; an example could be the march against child prostitution on Huaxi Street, which she joined in as well at a young age. The path from equality between two genders to equality among diverse genders have taken a series of legislative amendments and movements in Part IV Family of the Civil Code, the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, and the Gender Equity Education Act, to name but a few. In addition, the FWRPD and women’s organizations have worked in tandem to promote and assist the government with the release of national reports on the CEDAW since the first report in 2009, and have successfully launched the “localized review model” for national reports on the UN’s human rights treaties, demonstrating their resilience, innovation, and indispensable contribution.
The review of the Fourth National Report on the CEDAW in Taiwan was conducted in November 2022; the NHRC provided independent opinions for the first time, and participated throughout the international review meeting. Chairperson Chen Chu pointed out that based on the regular review mechanism for national reports and the follow-up and implementation of concluding observations, gender equality is continuously promoted, which is concrete proof of the integration of international human rights law and local human rights protection.
Supervising the government’s implementation of human rights treaties is a critical responsibility of the NHRC, as highlighted by Chairperson Chen. In order to review the implementation of the concluding observations of last year’s CEDAW international review, the NHRC and the FWRPD have jointly organized a series of thematic forums since this July, with women’s organizations invited to have in-depth discussions on how to facilitate the implementation of these concluding observations.
Regarding today’s forum, Chairperson Chen expressed her hope for broader discussions on these issues, including gender equality legislation, elimination of gender-based violence, enhancement of women’s civil and political participation, and protection of women’s rights to health, employment and economic security, etc. She also reminded that human rights are an ongoing goal to pursue; while considerable improvements have been made, people should not be satisfied with the current achievements. In particular, many emerging gender and human rights issues are arising in the present digital generation, reflecting room for joint improvement.
Mainly based on the concluding observations of CEDAW, the agenda of the one-day forum was divided into four sessions: “Gender Equality Legislation and Elimination of Gender-Based Violence,” “Enhancement of Women’s Civil and Political Participation,” “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Gender Equality Education,” and “Guarantee for Women’s Employment and Economic Security”; the moderators included the NHRC Commissioners Chi Hui-jung and Tien Chiu-chin, and Commissioners of the Gender Equality Committee of the Executive Yuan, Jennifer Lu and Lin Lu-hung.
A number of NGOs, public sector practitioners, gender experts and scholars, and young students interested in women and gender issues that have long been committed to women’s rights and gender equality were invited to attend the forum as well, totaling more than 100 participants to focus on the development needs of different female groups in Taiwanese society, and the ways to improve the conditions.