APF member Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report findings (2024) LGBTI people continued to face discrimination and low levels of social acceptance. Despite commitments voiced by authorities, no specialized shelters were established for LGBTI survivors of domestic violence. No legal protection provided for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Korea South Korea had the lowest ranking among OECD member countries in 2023 with regard to women’s educational attainment, women in managerial positions, and maternal leave policies. The government announced significant cuts to the 2024 budget for preventing violence against women and supporting survivors. In October 2023, the National Assembly passed the Protected Birth Bill that promotes the registration of unwanted pregnancies. Women’s rights groups opposed the Bill saying it failed to address the underlying reasons that drive women not to register births. UN Human Rights Committee urged the government to take appropriate legislative and other measures to implement a 2019 Constitutional Court decision which decriminalized abortion in order to ensure effective access to safe abortion. Widespread digital sex crimes reported. Instances of GBV. In June 2023, legislation proposed that would extend the right to marry same-sex couples. Another proposed bill would create civil unions as an alternative to marriage. In October 2023, the Constitutional Court, upheld Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act, which criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual acts within the Korean military. Kyrgyzstan Widespread abuse and sexual violence against children with disabilities, including girls and lacked effective access to justice. Cases of violence against women and girls remain underreported, and survivors face multiple barriers to accessing services and justice. Kyrgyzstan proposing legislative amendments to prohibit information that “denies family values” and promotes “non-traditional sexual relationships.” In June 2023, parliament passed a draft law On the Protection of Children from Harmful Information prohibiting the dissemination of broadly defined information that denied “family values”, encouraged “disrespect for parents” and promoted “non-traditional sexual relationships”. The draft media law also prohibits the promotion of “same-sex marriage.” Malaysia The Cabinet announced in Feb 2023 plans to amend the Constitution to grant Malaysian citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers. However, the citizenship amendments also contain provisions that will perpetuate child statelessness. At time of writing, the amendments had been discussed in the cabinet and presented to the Conference of Rulers. Gender Baseline Assessment of NHRIs in the Asia Pacific region – July 2024 44