Efforts to advance women's rights said insufficient
2011/03/05 18:24:20 |
Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Taiwanese women are dissatisfied with thelevel of advancement of women's rights in today's society, ifcomments left on Facebook are any indication, a women's organizationsaid Saturday ahead of March 8 International Women's Day.
"Although Taiwan has been making legislative progress inprotecting women's rights over the past few years, the government hasrefused to promote gender equality as an important social value, "said Yang Wan-ying, chairwoman of the Awakening Foundation.
She said, for example, that officials did not fully considerwomen's needs when they decided to boost the declining birth rate bygiving out cash for childbirth. "What women really want is ahigh-quality public daycare system," she said at a press conference.
"We are not vending machines into which you throw some coins inreturn for a baby, " wrote one Internet user who ridiculed thegovernment's plan.
Fan Yun, an associate professor at National Taiwan University'sDepartment of Sociology, added that although women are allowed up tosix months of maternity leave according to the Gender EmploymentEquality Act, it is not uncommon for private employers to simply firefemale workers who are pregnant and who apply for leave.
This shows that the relevant authorities do not take the issueseriously, Fan said, noting that the Council of Labor Affairs andother authorities concerned should enforce the law and protectwomen's rights.
A visiting female scholar from Beijing also shared herdisappointment over gender stereotyping at the press conference, evenamong educated individuals.
"My best friend said that I abandoned my family in China just tohave fun for myself. But I came here for research, just as my husbanddoes when he visits the United States." she said.
Women who experience unfair treatment are encouraged to venttheir anger on the organization's Facebook page, said Fan, addingthat the comments gathered can serve as useful references forgovernment officials when it comes to policy-making.
(By Nancy Liu)
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