In the opening speech of the 2023 DBTA, member Ji Huirong was invited to talk about Taiwan's #MeToo development and why is it so important to implement diversity and inclusion in the era of #MeToo.
Former Executive Director of Lixin Cultural and Education Foundation and member of the Control Yuan, member Ji Huirong, member of the Diversity and Inclusion Vision Award, first talked about: #MeToo In the era of gender-based violence, how can enterprises prevent gender-based violence and implement diversity and inclusion policies?
In May 2023, a belated distress letter sounded Taiwan's #MeToo whistle, from government departments to academia, art and culture, entertainment and various workplaces, long-buried incidents of power harassment broke out, and people finally began to realize that workplace harassment is not just a sporadic case, but a structural problem caused by long-term social neglect.
As an indicator enterprise that has been advocating gender issues and DEI diversity and inclusion for many years, women's fans have not been absent from this wave of #MeToo movement, and Zhang Weixuan, founder and CEO of women's fans, together with Taiwan's three major gender-based violence prevention and control public welfare organizations: Women's Rescue Foundation, Modern Women's Foundation, and Taiwan Riot Prevention Alliance, jointly launched the #MeToo joint signature campaign, gathering tens of thousands of signatures in two days to respond, and promoting the amendment of the law in July 2023.
(Same scene added: Don't let Da Ya be alone, let's stand up together!) |Zhang Weixuan Xingpen)
In addition to promoting the practice of law revision, in the practice of diversity and inclusion accumulated for nearly 11 years, women fans have seen many gender-based violence caused by "power inequality" fermented in enterprises, which not only caused a public relations crisis, but also impacted the brand image. We believe that under the trend of the times, how to promote the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace and enhance the gender awareness of employees will be a workplace issue that enterprises pay more attention to.
At the second Diversity and Inclusion Vision Award this year (2023), women's fans specially invited Ji Huirong, former CEO of the first DBTA Influential Person Award last year, former CEO of Lixin Cultural and Education Foundation and member of the Control Yuan, to provide governance solutions for the enterprises present.
Photo|Ji Huirong, former CEO of Lixin Cultural and Educational Foundation and member of the Control Yuan
The belated Taiwan #Metoo Movement sees the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace
With a long history of cultivation in Taiwanese society and an active connection with international perspectives, Ji Huirong hosted the 4th World Conference on Women's Shelter and Resettlement in 2019, which was the first time that the conference moved to Asia. She admits that the reason why Taiwan's #MeToo movement was so late was because social and corporate organizations at that time lacked gender awareness, could not provide enough protection nets for survivors, and heavy labels made them unable to stand up and defend their rights and interests.
(Same scene plus screening: Why didn't you resist?) Psychologists talk about the three-stage reaction to sexual violence, there is a reason why they can't escape! ）
Ji Huirong also shared the case he has handled in the past, the principal who handled the sexual harassment incident in the campus workplace was proud of the lack of empathy for the arrangement of "survivors marrying perpetrators", which made him deeply appreciate the importance of leaders in promoting diversity and inclusion, and the rise of the Taiwan #MeToo movement has finally redefined gender issues in society, and also made enterprises begin to face up to the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, he believes that as long as enterprises are willing to take the lead, they can lead the society to gradually move towards diversity and inclusion.
Photo|Ji Huirong, former CEO of Lixin Cultural and Educational Foundation and member of the Control Yuan
Looking at the current situation of gender in Taiwan from the data: is the society diverse enough?
According to the 2021 Gender Inequality Index (Gill), Taiwan ranks 7th in the world and 1st in Asia for gender equality. But deep into the workplace, is that really the case?
The workplace dilemma of women that is not seen in the gender equality index
According to the "2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper - Fair Development of Corporate Talents and Sustainable Governance Policy", women face unfair treatment in the workplace, with "unfair promotion system", "unequal pay for equal work" and "different benefits" as the top three, and only 8% of women believe that they have influence.
Ji Huirong also added with data that the proportion of female corporate directors in 2021 accounted for only 14.9%, showing that after 30 years of women's movement, gender issues, and women's autonomy, under the DEI initiative, Taiwan still has many ways to go to move towards diversity and inclusion. Because when the composition of corporate leaders is not diverse enough, and corporate decision-making is dominated by a single gender, it is difficult for society to truly achieve diversity and inclusion.
Photo | Ji Huirong Courtesy
Who does the parental retention policy take care of?
Ji Huirong also took the childcare retention and pay policy as an example, saying that even if the government and enterprises launch friendly and diversified welfare policies from the institutional perspective, in the workplace environment established by lack of psychological safety, employees face the risk of being laid off and replaced by jobs, and no amount of welfare policies will be useless.
According to the data of the Ministry of Labor, there is also a gender problem of childcare leave without pay, and even though the proportion of men applying for childcare leave without pay has gradually increased, only 19.7% of men applied in 2021, and 71.3% of female applications were mainly public sector employees. This data not only shows the unfairness of the division of domestic work, but also shows that women in enterprises outside the public sector are indifferent to the policy of leaving children without pay.
In this regard, Ji Huirong appealed to enterprises that in order for the diversified and inclusive policy to help enterprises successfully retain talents, they must first create a workplace with psychological safety to ensure that the childcare retention policy can be properly used, and he also encouraged men to join the childcare ranks and strive for opportunities to accompany their children's growth together.
Photo | Ji Huirong Courtesy
Pay inequality is not just a gender difference
In response to the Women's Fan 2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper, Ji Huirong pointed out the problem of unequal pay for equal work in the workplace with the "Labor Status Survey Data" of the Ministry of Labor.
According to the 2021 Employee Salary Survey, the 2021 Indigenous Employment Status Survey, and the 2019 Indigenous Employment Status Survey, the average salary of women in Taiwan is 86% of that of men, and the gender gap is even greater when looking at job seekers with "original names" and "people with disabilities". It shows that under the name of the first gender equality in Asia, the diversity and inclusion of Taiwan's workplace still stays in the "policy side" rather than the "implementation side" and "cultural side".
Photo | Ji Huirong Courtesy
#MeToo時代推動 DEI diversity and inclusion, what can enterprises do?
Under the wave of #MeToo, those hidden problems in all corners of the world have been seen one by one, and in the face of the problem of labor shortage in globalized regions, enterprises have begun to realize the importance of formulating diversified and inclusive policies and retaining diverse talents.
According to the experience of women's fans in DEI initiatives for many years, when enterprises promote DEI diversity and inclusion, they may encounter a lack of diversity awareness, resulting in the implementation direction deviating from the spirit of DEI, but causing counterproductive effects, or empty resources but do not know how to start.
In the era of #MeToo and labor shortages, how can enterprises promote diversity and inclusion and achieve talent sustainability? Ji Huirong put forward five major action suggestions in this regard:
- Narrowing the pay gap: including gender and ethnic groups.
- Gender-neutral and flexible childcare retention: Increase the replacement rate of earnings during childcare leave without pay.
- Set up childcare centers: analyze regional characteristics, supply and demand, and set up and co-operate childcare service centers.
- Long-term care leave: Encourage planning of "paid long-term care leave".
- Diversified employment and reasonable adjustment: Employ multi-ethnic workers, and provide reasonable adjustments to the work content according to their restrictions and needs.
Photo|Ji Huirong, former CEO of Lixin Cultural and Educational Foundation and member of the Control Yuan
Finally, at the Diversity and Inclusion Vision Award, Ji Huirong shouted to more than 170 business leaders that in order to successfully retain talents under the wave of labor shortage, it is necessary to pay attention to DEI culture and face up to the gender and diversity issues behind #MeToo.
Only by starting with business leaders, declaring zero tolerance for sexual harassment and demonstrating employers' commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion can they have a chance to drive the overall corporate culture. He also hopes that with the joint efforts of enterprises, Taiwan can become an international indicator and become a global DEI model.