Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the chairwoman and presidential candidate of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), voiced support on Sunday for equal rights for men and women in Taiwan.

In a Facebook post on a day designated by the United Nations as International Day of the Girl Child, Tsai wrote that the day reminded her of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai — who won a Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to the Taliban and defending girls’ rights since she was 12.

There are many girls around the world who also face gender inequality, poverty, violence and discrimination, Tsai said, and some gender stereotypes still exist in a democratic country like Taiwan where human rights are protected.

As a result, the DPP chairwoman made three wishes that women’s rights in Taiwan could be improved.

First, she hoped the government would help share the burden of taking care of the household so that women would be freer to seek employment and increase their labor force participation and economic autonomy.

Second, Tsai hoped Taiwanese females could enjoy equal rights with males in terms of household, employment and political participation through improvements in gender equality awareness and legal assurances about women’s rights.

Finally, Tsai said she hoped Taiwanese women could be free from the fear of violence and have their safety protected in households and public spaces through active measures by the government.

(By Yeh Su-ping and Jeffrey Wu)
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Resource: Taiwan Today News
http://www.taiwantodaynews.com/index.php/dpp-presidential-candidate-voices-support-for-womens-rights/