Clarifying anti-discrimination lawsBy Yu Ying-fuOn April 28, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) ran an opinion piece titled “There’s no problem child in special education classes.” As mentioned, “Many countries have anti-discrimination laws ... our country does not have this kind of law.”The meaning of this statement is not precise enough, and it needs to be clarified. At that time, I also published an editorial in the newspaper titled “Do we need an anti-racial discrimination law?” arguing that there was no need to enact separate legislation. Article 16 of the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法), as well as several other laws, also mention the prevention of discrimination. There are some existing anti-discrimination laws in Taiwan, but they are targeted at specific groups and limited to specific areas. With such fragmentation, Taiwan might consider consolidating the provisions to formulate an exclusive anti-discrimination law for several types of discriminatory words and behaviors, so it can be easily understood and applied by all.

Source: Taipei Times May 05, 2024 03:48 UTC