Ma reiterates commitment to women’s rights

2016/01/19

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Jan. 15 that significant headway has been achieved in promoting gender equality in Taiwan, with the government bringing the country’s related practices in line with global standards.

“Taiwan is enhancing women’s rights on all fronts,” Ma said. “Such progress is illustrated by the nation’s fifth-place global ranking based on the criteria of the 2013 Gender Inequality Index by U.N. Development Program.

“Other achievements include enactment of the Enforcement Act of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 2011, as well as domestication of five other U.N. conventions on human rights protection.”

The president made the remarks while receiving Kim Jung-sook, chairwoman of Paris-headquartered International Council of Women at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.

According to Ma, political participation of women in Taiwan is on the rise. “The current makeup of the ROC Legislature is 33 percent women, with the Control and Examination Yuans comprising 50 percent and 38 percent female members, respectively,” he said.

“Equally impressive are measures in combating child abuse and sex trafficking, with the number of underage victims dropping from 518 a year to 383 since I took office in May 2008.”

Another shining example is the government’s steadfast stance on the comfort women issue, Ma added. “Japan should apologize to, compensate and restore the dignity of Taiwan women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during the Second Sino-Japanese War [1937-1945].”

There were 1,200 such local victims during that time, including Cheng-Chen Tao, who passed away at 94 a week ago in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County.

“We have to seek justice for these individuals and redress their suffering, as the issue is a matter of basic dignity and human rights,” he said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=241350&ctNode=2194&mp=9)