c. Actions taken by government entities
a) Department of Gender Equality, Executive Yuan 27
The Department of Gender Equality, Executive Yuan noted that since
2014, certain cases have arisen that address uniform regulations, e.g., the
Police Uniforms Act, attached instructions of the Firefighting Uniform
Guidelines, the Customs Service Personnel Uniform Management
Guidelines, and the uniform regulations of the National Immigration
Agency, Ministry of the Interior. These cases involved female employees
being required to wearing skirts and not allowed to wear trousers as part of
the uniform. Upon review, the special review committee determined that
these regulations violated Article 5, Subparagraph (a) of CEDAW. The
regulations were then amended to include trousers, and female employees
can now choose to wear trousers at work.
Similarly, the Ministry of Education mandates that while school
uniforms should be decided on by school uniform committees, female
students should not be required to wear skirts; instead, female students can
wear their choice of skirts or trousers to avoid gender stereotyping and
comply with Article 5 of CEDAW.
The Department of Gender Equality, Executive Yuan also stated that
it sent a letter to various ministries/councils in January 2024 requesting that
they require their affiliated agencies as well as foundations, state-owned
enterprises, private organizations, and related businesses to review their
dress codes and provide guidance and oversight to promote improvements
and end gender stereotyping. The department also encouraged the
ministries/councils to incorporate such efforts into their annual gender
equality promotional plans to demonstrate progress in this area.
The Department of Gender Equality, Executive Yuan recommended
that all ministries/councils utilize this complaint and the aforementioned
police and firefighter uniform cases as CEDAW training materials. During
policy meetings or general meetings with internal and external businesses
27
The Commission’s meeting minutes with the advisory body on May 30, 2024.
41