The Executive Yuan must push agencies to deal with domestic abuse, especially against women and children with disabilities, the National Human Rights Commission said on Thursday.
The commission is assessing Taiwan’s efforts to implement the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Reported household abuse cases last year increased by 13,674, or 10 percent, from 2019, while cases involving spouses, those who are divorced or couples living together increased 6.3 percent, the commission said.
Protective custody cases involving children increased 25 percent, while reports of abuse of people with disabilities rose 11 percent, it said.
People with disabilities, women in particular, have faced heightened risk of abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said, adding that there are still roadblocks to implementing protections for vulnerable people.
The Executive Yuan must push agencies in charge of such issues to make changes, including via its Guiding Principles on Rights for Those with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Commission member Wang You-ling (王幼玲) said that only 5 percent of Taiwanese are officially recognized as disabled, compared with 15 percent in other nations.
The criteria to be recognized as disabled in Taiwan do not conform to human rights standards and are based on arbitrary standards of bodily functionality, Wang said.
The goal of the UN convention is to “make reasonable adjustments” and implement regulations on campuses, and in work environments and prions, she said.
Commission member Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) said that financial difficulties in the Labor Insurance Fund have left 230,000 people with disabilities at a disadvantage regarding their right to retire.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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