Gender mainstreaming and gender policies in contemporary Taiwan

Abstract

In 1995, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (hereafter referred to as the Platform for Action) promulgated during the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women called for the use of gender mainstreaming as a strategy in policy formulations for pursuing the goals of gender equality. Feminist leaders of NGOs who joined the Taiwanese government in the mid-1990s were strategically positioned to contribute to policy formulations that would integrate gender-mainstreaming perspectives into policies and institutions in the Taiwanese government. Among the various approaches to gender-mainstreaming, taking positive actions to set pro-women policy agendas have been the predominant approach deployed by the Taiwanese government for promoting gender parity. However, the government's gender-mainstreaming strategies also include limited applications of the expert-technocratic approach to policy-making and the transversal approach for gauging public opinions through dialogues in citizens' forums to explore ways to meet the needs of women from diverse backgrounds. This article assesses the progress the Taiwanese government and civil society have made toward eliminating gender inequality as well as the specific areas that still need improvement before greater gender parity can be achieved.