Female participation in politics at all-time high

Courtesy of ICRT

Taiwan's cabinet says the number of female local government heads reached an historic high of 56.3% following last year's local elections.

Compared to the previous local elections in 2018, the number of female mayors and county magistrates increased by 18.8 percentage points in 2022 and women now account for at least one-third of the seats on city and county councils nationwide.

The percentage of female judges and members of the Control Yuan, Taiwan's government watchdog, has now passed 40%.

The cabinet says the percentage of female lawmakers reached an all-time high of 42.5% in January of last year 2022 following a legislative by-election that month.

The number of women in the new cabinet, which was sworn in on Tuesday, is just under 16%. That's a marked increase compared to 7.3% for the previous cabinet.

In related gender and inclusion news, ten more companies headquartered in Taiwan have been included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index. That brings the number of Taiwanese firms on the list to 16 and is the biggest increase of any country in the Asia-Pacific region.

Quantum International says the gender gap pay is a commonly reported issue in Taiwan that impacts the attraction and retention of talent, damages employee morale and company reputation.

According to Bloomberg's website, a total of 484 companies across 54 industries based in 45 countries and regions which meet the criteria and have a score above a global threshold established by Bloomberg were included in the index.

Among the 16 Taiwanese companies are AU Optronics, Fubon Financial Holdings, Cathay Financial Holdings, WIN Semiconductors, King's Town Bank and Yuanta Financial Holdings.

The index measures gender equality performance based on female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand.