New Government's Gender Equality Plan Omits Terms 'Corporate Female Representation' and 'Violence Against Women'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] There has been criticism that the new government's basic plan for gender equality policies over the next five years omits 'enhancing women's representation within companies.'

On the 1st, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) held a public hearing to prepare the '3rd Basic Plan for Gender Equality Policy' (2023?2027), presenting MOGEF's draft plan and gathering opinions through expert discussions.

In accordance with the Framework Act on Gender Equality, MOGEF establishes a basic plan for gender equality policies every five years. With the 2nd basic plan ending this year, MOGEF is creating the 3rd basic plan to be applied from 2023 to 2027. The draft plan includes the phased introduction of the 'gender-based labor disclosure system,' which publicly discloses employment status by gender from hiring to retirement, expansion of parental leave, and strengthening integrated support for victims of violence.

Professor Kim Su-han of Korea University positively evaluated the gender-based labor disclosure system, expansion of parental leave, and support for activating telecommuting and remote work in small and medium enterprises included in MOGEF's draft plan, but pointed out the exclusion of 'enhancing women's representation and participation in companies.' Professor Kim argued, "Considering that the proportion of women in senior positions in Korean companies remains low, it is necessary to reconsider the item on women's representation."

In response, MOGEF explained that while the policy task includes 'establishing plans to enhance gender representation' in the public sector, for companies, since the private sector should act autonomously, they decided to promote 'support for gender-balanced culture.'

Professor Kim emphasized that including 'prevention of women's career discontinuity' in the basic plan is positive, but new approaches are needed for this. He suggested improving existing personnel systems such as seniority-based promotion, reducing the minimum years of service required for promotion and appointments, and spreading systems that evaluate based on competence and performance.

Criticism also continued regarding the replacement of the term 'women's violence' with 'violence' or 'gender-based violence' in the policy task descriptions. Kang Eun-young, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy, said, "It is questionable whether agendas or policy tasks that do not explicitly address gender issues align with the purpose of the basic plan for gender equality policy."