Human Rights and Gender Equality

30-Second Overview: Taiwan has developed from a nation that experienced human rights abuses during the authoritarian era into a leading guarantor of human rights in Asia. Through milestones such as addressing authoritarian legacies via transitional justice, promoting gender equality legislation, and achieving the legalization of same-sex marriage, Taiwan has become an important indicator of democratic and human rights values in Asia.

Taiwan's human rights development can be divided into three stages: authoritarian oppression, democratic transition, and rights protection. This journey spans from the trauma of the 228 Incident and the White Terror to the establishment of human rights protection mechanisms after the lifting of martial law, culminating in recent breakthroughs like transitional justice and same-sex marriage legalization. In 2009, Taiwan converted both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) into domestic law, establishing a legal framework based on international human rights standards.¹

Human Rights Abuses During the Authoritarian Period

The 228 Incident in 1947 resulted in tens of thousands of casualties. The subsequent thirty-eight years of martial law rule (1949–1987) constitute the deepest trauma in modern Taiwanese human rights history. During the White Terror, political dissidents faced improper trials, torture, execution, or long-term imprisonment. Political cases such as the Lei Zhen case and the美麗島 Incident (1979) became representative symbols of authoritarian rule.²

Under the martial law system, fundamental freedoms such as assembly, association, speech, publication, and movement were restricted. Military tribunals extended to civilians, damaging judicial independence; social thought was controlled through cultural censorship, leading to a "chilling effect."

After the lifting of martial law in 1987, efforts to exonerate victims gradually advanced. The Act on Compensation for Improper Rebellion and Spy Trials During Martial Law provided compensation to victims, and oral history and archive opening projects unfolded over subsequent decades; these memory compilations formed the material basis for later transitional justice.²

Transitional Justice Process

The Act Promoting Transitional Justice was legislated in 2017. The Committee for Promoting Transitional Justice (促轉會) officially began operations in 2018, tasked with truth investigation, archive organization, and legal cleanup; the committee responsible for reclaiming assets improperly acquired during the authoritarian period was established in 2016. The 促轉會 dissolved on May 30, 2022, after its term expired, transferring its duties to six competent agencies, which are integrated by the Executive Yuan's Transitional Justice Progress Report.²

In terms of cleaning up authoritarian symbols, statues of some former rulers have been removed, and former sites of authoritarian activity have been converted into human rights education venues. The Jingmei Memorial Park (White Terror) and Green Island Human Rights Culture Park are representative examples.

In institutional construction, the National Human Rights Commission was established to supervise human rights conditions according to independent body standards set by the "Paris Principles." Taiwan's path of transitional justice provides a reference case for other democratic transitions in Asia.²

Gender Equality and Same-Sex Marriage

Regarding gender equality legislation, the Act on Gender Equality in the Workplace protects workplace gender equality; the Act on Gender Equality Education promotes campus gender education; and the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act establishes prevention mechanisms. The quota system for women has significantly increased female political participation, with Taiwan having a long history of high representation of female legislators among Asian nations.

The legalization of same-sex marriage is one of Taiwan's most internationally scrutinized human rights advancements in recent years. The Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748 on May 24, 2017, determined that the current Civil Code failed to guarantee equality for same-sex couples, violating constitutional equal rights, and required related legislation to be completed within two years. The results of Referendum Cases Nos. 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 on November 24, 2018, showed clear social division: Case No. 10 (marriage limited to one man and one woman) had 7.65 million votes in favor versus 2.9 million against; Case No. 14 (Civil Code guaranteeing same-sex marriage) had 3.38 million votes in favor versus 6.95 million against. This result indicated a clear majority favoring opposition to same-sex marriage in the referendum. The Legislative Yuan ultimately responded by enacting a special law, and on May 17, 2019, it passed the Act Implementing Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748, making Taiwan the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.³

Conservative groups such as Hujia Alliance and Anstable Force mobilized parents and religious communities before and after the referendum, reflecting that internal tensions over gender issues have not disappeared with legislative completion. On May 16, 2023, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to Article 20 of the Implementing Act, allowing same-sex spouses to jointly adopt children without biological ties, filling a previous legal gap.⁴

Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 791 on May 29, 2020, declared that Article 239 of the Penal Code (adultery) was unconstitutional and immediately invalid, removing gendered control over individual sexual autonomy from the criminal law level (the rate of prosecution for women in adultery cases has been noticeably higher in judicial practice). This marked a critical turning point in the evolution of gender equality legislation.

#MeToo in 2023 and Amendments to Three Laws on Gender Equality

In May–June 2023, Taiwan experienced the #MeToo movement, which rapidly spread from allegations of low-level sexual harassment by workers at the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) to politics, academia, media, and arts, becoming "Taiwan's #MeToo." The incidents led the Fair Trial Court to pass significant amendments to the "Three Laws on Gender Equality" at the end of July 2023 (Gender Equality Education Act on July 28; Workplace Gender Equality Act and Anti-Sexual Harassment Act on July 31), strengthening the responsibility of employers and schools, increasing penalties, and introducing a third-party independent investigation mechanism.⁵

The amendments to the Three Laws on Gender Equality also addressed the long-criticized issue of "non-independent handling mechanisms"—in the past, sexual harassment cases were often self-investigated by the perpetrator's affiliated institution. The new laws mandate the establishment of external committees and extend appeal periods, representing a structural breakthrough in Taiwan's gender equality legal system.

Intersex Rights and Internal Tensions

The dispute over intersex certification is one of the most contentious areas in Taiwan's recent gender equality discourse. In the "Little E Case" in September 2021, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that the 2008 letter from the Ministry of the Interior, which required completion of genital removal surgery before changing gender registration, violated the principles of legal reservation and proportionality. Little E became Taiwan's first citizen to change gender registration without undergoing surgery. This ruling sparked internal divisions within feminism: the transgender movement advocates for self-determination of gender identity, while some radical feminists (referred to as TERF, Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist) worry about the impact on female-only spaces (restrooms, changing rooms, sporting events, and shelters). This tension has not yet reached social consensus, and competent authorities have not yet established comprehensive certification standards.⁶

The "Dongchang Incident" of 2018

In September 2018, Deputy Commissioner Chang Tian-chin mentioned the establishment of a "Dongchang" (Eastern Workshop) in an internal meeting recording, discussing a strategic use of transitional justice investigation against a specific candidate (Hou Yu-ih), which raised public questions about the political neutrality of the Transitional Justice Committee. Chang Tian-chin resigned and the committee conducted an internal investigation, but the incident severely damaged the credibility of the 促轉會 and became a negative reference case for subsequent efforts in transitional justice.⁷

Unfinished Tasks

Regarding Indigenous peoples, the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law establishes collective rights, promoting traditional territory demarcation and language revitalization, though disputes over traditional territories and autonomous practice are ongoing. While basic labor conditions for foreign workers are guaranteed, concerns remain regarding the agency fee system and improvements to migrant worker personal freedom.

Concerning children, the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Rights established a reporting mechanism, and amendments to Article 1085 of the Civil Code, which deleted parental disciplinary rights and specified that physical or mental violence against children is prohibited, are also being advanced; regarding people with disabilities, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been domesticated, and construction of accessible environments continues.

In international engagement, due to Taiwan's unique sovereign status, it cannot formally join UN human rights mechanisms but participates in international human rights discussions through civil society channels. The domestic implementation of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) is recognized by international human rights organizations, and Freedom House also rates Taiwan as a "free" nation.

References

Further Reading

• National Human Rights Museum — The competent agency for Jingmei and Green Island Memorial Parks (White Terror).
• Alliance for Monitoring Implementation of Human Rights Covenants — Supervision of the implementation status of international human rights covenants in Taiwan.