2024 East Asia Gender Equality Forum: Boosting Women’s Participation, Building Inclusive Society
2024 East Asia Gender Equality Forum: Boosting Women’s Participation, Building Inclusive Society
Date：Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Event Highlights Video
Traditional gender roles often confine women to the private sphere, significantly hindering their full engagement in public life. These barriers are fueled by unequal opportunities, caregiving burdens, and pervasive harassment, which collectively work to silence women in public spaces. Recognizing these challenges is crucial for understanding the broader context of women's participation in public life.
The representation of women in East Asian politics varies widely, illustrating the uneven progress across the region. In Japan, women hold 28% of the seats in the upper house but less than 10% in the lower house. South Korea, despite implementing quotas, has only 19% female parliament members. Taiwan's gender quotas have resulted in 42% women in the parliament but only 23.7% in city councils. These disparities highlight the ongoing gender gaps in political representation across East Asia, underscoring the need for continued efforts to address these imbalances.
Despite these challenges, women have shown resilience and determination by leading social movements, raising awareness about women's issues in public discussions, shaping policies, and advocating for inclusivity among marginalized groups. Their efforts demonstrate the significant impact women can have when given the opportunity to participate fully in public life.
The 2024 East Asia Gender Equality Forum, held in Taipei on May 22, aimed to amplify these contributions, foster dialogue, inspire action, and nurture more inclusive societies. Experts from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea shared experiences and insights on gender discrimination, political participation, and social changes during the event. This exchange of ideas provided valuable perspectives on the common challenges faced by women in the region.
Through open dialogue and shared experiences, the forum sought to empower participants, promote gender equality in politics, and drive social change towards greater inclusivity in East Asia. Additionally, the forum aimed to take the following actions to enhance women's public and political participation:
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Enhancing public awareness among grassroots women is crucial. Solutions to boost their public awareness include holding workshops for motivated women to share experiences, fostering continuous consciousness-raising through grassroots initiatives, women's movement organizations, and public centers. Additionally, village chief training workshops can help women build networks, strengthen their resolve to run for office, inspire community-building visions, and enhance campaigning skills. Empowering local women to know policymaking as relevant to their lives is essential as it encourages their active participation in public and political spheres. These efforts collectively aim to mobilize and empower women to play more significant roles in shaping public discourse and decision-making processes.
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Ensuring a quota for women's political participation is vital. It serves as a key solution to facilitate increased female involvement in public and political spheres. Quota system plays a pivotal role in promoting gender equality and empowering women to actively participate in decision-making processes. Moreover, it helps address issues of underrepresentation and fosters a more inclusive and diverse political landscape. Systematic measures can transform culture by providing a structured framework for increasing female representation. As more women enter politics and occupy decision-making positions, a transformed gender culture emerges, reinforcing the legitimacy and effectiveness of these safeguards. Ultimately, having enough women in politics is essential for exerting influence and creating a more equitable and diverse democracy.
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Despite increasing public support for LGBTI-friendly policies, daily interactions continue to lack inclusivity, resulting in ongoing violence against the community. Many incidents go unreported due to distrust in the possibility of change and fear of facing discrimination. To tackle these challenges effectively, it is important to foster collaborative efforts among LGBTI groups. Additionally, related organizations can work together to draft policy white papers, offering more practical and realistic solutions to eliminate discrimination in both public and private sectors.
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To increase women's participation in corporate boards and high-level decision-making positions, implementing targeted legislation mandating female representation on boards is critical. Creating mentorship programs, leadership development initiatives, and promoting a culture of gender equality within the workplace are also essential steps. By actively supporting and promoting women to leadership positions, organizations can achieve greater diversity and inclusion in their leadership teams.
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To effectively address issues of women's public participation, collaboration with men is necessary, as male politicians with power play a key role in promoting inclusivity. When men understand the benefits of gender-friendly policies, it benefits everyone, including themselves. Building alliances with men is fundamental for advancing women's participation in leadership positions, ensuring a shared understanding of the mutual advantages of gender equality and inclusive policymaking. While women experience safety, comfort, and value in participating in the public sphere, it is more likely that the public participation issues faced by other underrepresented groups, such as the LGBTI community, people with disabilities, and immigrants, will also receive greater attention.
