VI. Disadvantaged Groups of Women improvement since 2016, and the government’s affirmative action measures have been insufficient.43 29. The government announced in January 2022 its draft amendment to the Genetic Health Act,44 which will remove the requirement of spousal consent for abortion and delete the phrase “detrimental to reproductive health.” The requirement that doctors should advise people with diseases that hinder their reproductive health to undergo treatment or perform sterilization has been amended to an obligation to inform.
Recommendation 20 (1) The government should explore the difficulties of women with disabilities in employment; collect statistical data for policy formulation; and provide reasonable accommodation for women with disabilities in the workplace to assist, support, and promote employment.
43 According to an MOL survey, the labor force participation rate of women with disabilities in 2019 was 14.7% (14.11% in 2016), compared to 25.5% of men with disabilities (25.27% in 2016) and 51.4% of all women in Taiwan (50.8% in 2016). The percentage of women with disabilities who were unable to work in the labor market due to household and family care (67.9%) was not much different from that of all women in Taiwan (65.1%). However, 10.1% of women with disabilities were unable to work due to family factors, compared to 8.4% of men with disabilities. The 2019 unemployment rate for women with disabilities was 8.1% (8.5% in 2016), which was also higher than that for all women in Taiwan (3.58%). See also §31 of NHRC’s (August, 2021) Opinions on the Second National Report of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
44 The title and some provisions of the Genetic Health Act have been noted as violating CEDAW and the CRPD. See §60 of the 2018 IRC (CEDAW) Concluding Observations and Recommendations and §§48-49 of the 2017 IRC (CRPD) Concluding Observations and Recommendations.
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