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Gender fairness bill is made law

The Gender Equality Education Law (性別平等教育法) passed the hurdle of its third reading to become law today, concluding a long struggle by legislators and women's groups to achieve greater gender equality under the nation's laws.

The law seeks to improve gender equality in Taiwan through education, said People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chao Liang-yen (趙良燕).

"Gender equality starts with education. The new law states that teaching materials and courses should be reviewed for gender bias so that the next generation of Taiwanese will grow up with a more open view of gender roles," said Chao, who was one of the legislators assigned the job of reviewing the law in draft form.

According to the law, each government department and school must establish a gender equality committee to review existing policies and implement new ones in order to improve gender equality within their institutions.

The central government's gender-equality committee will be responsible for setting national standards, supervising gender-equality committees across the nation and providing training regarding the new law for employees.

Article 13 of the law stipulates that aside from schools that have traditionally been male-only or female-only, institutions cannot discriminate against prospective employees or students because of gender or sexual preference. Further, institutions cannot allow gender or sexual-identity issues to influence students' or employees' evaluations or awards, nor can they allow those issues to affect the availability of educational and other opportunities.

Schools will also no longer be able to force pregnant teens and unwed mothers to drop out of school.

The law's passage, long advocated by women's and gay rights groups, marks the end of a seven-year legislative process.

"The law has been in the making for a while, and it means a lot to have it passed with the support and encouragement of legislators from all parties and both genders," Chao said.

In another development benefitting disadvantaged groups, an amendment allowing seeing-eye dogs into public areas, including public transportation facilities, was passed by the Legislative Yuan today.
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