Taiwan’s Cabinet says that the government is working to revise by year’s end all rules and regulations that discriminate against women. The announcement on Sunday was a reference to Taiwan’s enforcement of the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
While Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, due to opposition from China, it has passed CEDAW and many other UN conventions in order to keep in line with the international community.
Taiwan began enforcing CEDAW in 2012. The Cabinet said Sunday that since then, the government has reviewed about 30,000 rules and regulations, and has identified 228 which are in violation of the convention.
The violations are grouped into seven categories, including gender stereotyping, restrictions on women's work rights, restrictions on women's property rights, differences in compensation, infringements on women's physical autonomy and reproductive rights, and upholding the institution of the patriarchal family. One final category includes all other forms of gender discrimination, including different overtime requirements for women, and requiring female employees to wear short or pencil skirts.
The Cabinet said that women’s rights are a universal value and that it will work to promote gender equality in Taiwan’s society.