Gender Mainstreaming and Human Rights

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for achieving gender equality that emerged in the United Nations in the 1970s and consists of integrating gender equality issues into all public policies. In the 1990s, the same strategy began to be applied to human rights to draw attention to the fact that the enjoyment of human rights is different for men and women, and that some human rights violations specifically affect women. This is a reflection and a result of the patriarchal organization of society and men＇s position of dominance over women. The European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights have begun to incorporate gender mainstreaming or a gender perspective in some judgments, especially in cases of violence against women.

Gender Mainstreaming Policy： Development and Culture in Taiwan

The gender mainstreaming policy has developed with the change of culture in Taiwan from 2001 to 2012. Based on literature review, this paper discusses the change of culture and the development of gender mainstreaming policy with ＂Gender at Work Framework＂ to explain the difference between change at the formal, organizational level and change at the informal and personal level for addressing the root causes of gender equality. This research finds that to achieve gender mainstreaming policy goal, the government has to foster robust, and sound cultural basis for the society.

Women Empowerment in the Arab Region： Between the Anvil of Illiteracy and the Hammer of Passive Representative Bureaucracy

This paper emphasizes on enacting comprehensive mainstreaming institutional mechanisms to promote the role of women in socio-economic development in the Arab region. Sustainable development could never take place unless both the government and civil society are committed towards women empowerment and gender parity to achieve gender mainstreaming. However, cultural legacy, with its socioeconomic and political dimensions, is envisaged as the most challenging impediment. There are three critical areas of concern of substantive nature, which are high rates of women illiteracy, passive representative bureaucracy, as a result of underrepresentation at decision-making levels, as well as gender disparity. To investigate women empowerment challenges in the region, the study first presents the multifaceted hurdle of cultural legacy and identifies the relevant social, economic and political challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective. Thereafter, it looks at two inseparable issues facing women in the Arab region, illiteracy and underrepresentation at decision-making levels. The study, then, indicates the pressing need for policy changes to fill up the massive gender gap existing in the majority of Arab States, where not only a description of gender disparity profile of the Arab region is presented but also a comparative outlook vis-a-vis global trends is highlighted. Finally, the research identifies the indispensible roles of both the government and civil society to address key challenges in synchrony. It does not only call for placing women empowerment among the top priorities on the agenda of policy-makers in setting development plans, but also reiterates the significant role of civil society institutions in the areas of illiteracy eradication, civic education, and women fights advocacy. In this context, a framework of recommended policy actions is presented in an attempt to set effective women empowerment mechanisms to achieve gender mainstreaming and hence contribute to sustainable development.

Development of Women's Rights in China Through A Hundred Years:From a Strong Sense of Political Responsibility to Increasingly Better Legal Protection

The founding of the Communist party of China,especially the founding of pRC and the establishment of the socialist system,opened a new chapter in the development of the Chinese women’s cause.The Communist party of China(CpC)and the Chinese government have a strong political will and a sense of political responsibility in realizing gender equality and protecting women’s rights.over the past 100 years,under the leadership of the CpC,the status of Chinese women has been fundamentally changed in the political and legal sense,and a historic breakthrough has been achieved.The development of the Chinese women’s cause has overcome many difficulties.In particular,after the launch of the reform and opening-up,on the basis of economic development,social progress,and continuous promotion of the rule of law,a set of legal protection systems for comprehensive protection of women’s rights have gradually been formed.The concept of social gender has provided new perspectives and approaches for China’s legal studies,and the process of gender mainstreaming in China has continued to deepen.China follows the socialist path of women’s cause with Chinese characteristics and continues to strengthen the legal protection of women’s rights in China,thereby making important contributions to the development of women in the world.

通向性别平等化城市--维也纳城市背景下的性别主流策略

Gender mainstreaming originated in the late 20th century as a tool for gender equality in multiple political and social areas.In the context of urban planning and design,it was raised as a response towards the male-dominated and car-centered urban model of our modern cities,arguing that the traditional built environment often neglects the needs of people with limited access to vehicular transportation modes.This disproportionately affects women whose daily routines often include other care-giving responsibilities,making them more reliant on non-vehicular transportation and susceptible to shortcomings in the design of public spaces.Starting with an analysis of the history and development of gender mainstreaming,this paper aims to explore gender-sensitive measures and applications in the context of Vienna,Austria.It investigates key commitments outlined in the government urban strategy plans as well as implementations of gender mainstreaming strategies at different urban planning and design scales throughout the city,particularly focusing on the aspern Seestadt masterplan in Vienna.Through understanding the process and impact of gender mainstreaming strategies in Vienna,this paper argues the importance of integrating a multitude of voices into the design of our urban environments,not limited to gender but also including race,religion,sexuality and abilities in order to create accessible,inclusive and human-oriented cities.