The nation's national examinations have deprived women from equal opportunity in positions in the coast guard or as judicial police, women's rights advocates said yesterday.
They called on the government to abide by the Gender Equality in Employment Law (
Three years after the passage of the Gender Equality in Employment Law, which is designed to protect women's rights in the workplace, the Examination Yuan continued to approve the national examinations held by the Ministry of Justice and Coast Guard Administration for men only or severely limit the positions made available to women, according to women's groups.
"The national examinations for civil servants should seek to recruit the best people, regardless of gender," said Huang Chang-ling (黃長玲), chairwoman of the Awakening Foundation and an associate professor of political science at National Taiwan University.
"But many recruitment examinations still exclude women from the opportunity to serve the country," she said.
The recruitment quota for civil servants from 2002 to last year showed that coast guard and national security recruitment examinations left either little or no room for women.
Last month, the Examination Yuan approved the exam regulations proposed by the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) under the Ministry of Justice. The investigation team's recruitment examination made available seven positions for women out of a total of 45.
Responding to concerns raised by women's rights advocates that the examination denies women the same opportunities as men, the CIB defended its position and argued that the long work hours and sometimes dangerous conditions made it difficult for women to be qualified.
Yu Mei-nu (
"It is the duty of the coast guard to train their new recruits for dangerous situations, and I believe there are women who could be well-trained and willing to put themselves in danger to serve the nation," Yu said.
Instead of setting gender limits, Yu said that the agencies should provide detailed information on the requirements of new recruits in the examination regulations.
Holding physical fitness tests or other specific forms of exams in addition to written and oral tests would also improve the effectiveness of the examinations, and help the authorities to find what they need, she said.
"An effective examination will reveal those who are physically unqualified -- be they men or women. The government should stop discriminating against women in the national examinations," Yu said.
Chang Chin-fen (張晉芬), president of the Female Studies Association, warned that if law enforcement agencies, which recruit only men failed to prove that all women are unfit for the positions, they would be violating the Gender Equality in Employment Law and the fifth article of the Employment Services Act (就業服務法), which outlaws gender discrimination in the workplace.
The activists called on the Examination Yuan to oversee all national exams held by different ministries to make sure they followed the laws. The group also urged the Council of Labor Affairs' gender equality labor committee to review enforcement of the law at the local government level.
The Gender Equality in Employment Law, which was passed after 15 years of lobbying by civil groups, stipulates that companies should set up appeal channels for employees who say they have been sexually harassed.
Companies are also barred from placing gender discrimination in their hiring process, unless there is solid evidence that one gender is incapable of doing a job.
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