國際規範的在地通俗化: 以 CEDAW 第五條在台灣和南 韓、日本之詮釋爲例

Abstract

聯合國在1979年通過「消除對婦女一切形式歧視公約（Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women）」（以下簡稱CEDAW）是唯一專門界定對婦女歧視的定義並且要求締約國採取「一切做法」來消除對婦女的歧視。本文將探討國際規範如何解決各國國内的特殊性別平等問題，也就是國際上具有普遍性的規範如何在國内層次被詮釋。 CEDAW共有三十個條款，其中第五條通常被稱爲有關「性別刻板印象和偏見」的條文。本文以Levitt和Merry所發展的「在地通俗化（vernacularisation）」概念為理論基礎，解釋不同行爲者之間的互動如何影響第五條在台灣的詮釋。 台灣以中華民國的身份在1971年退出聯合國，然而台灣政府仍連續通過包含CEDAW在内的人權公約。本文以台灣為案例，運用質化研究方法分析台灣如何詮釋CEDAW第五條。本文也將台灣的案例與日本及韓國進行跨國比較，更了解CEDAW如何因爲不同性別文化與社會結構而得到不同的詮釋。 本文之結論指出，在台灣、日本和韓國對於第五條的詮釋並沒有共識，各國詮釋的方式截然不同。研究結果也顯示，第五條的分析能夠展現該國家對於性別平等的承諾並且顯示各國的婦女團體及國内行爲者所關注的議題不同。本文認爲應該多研究第五條此條款，多注重於要求政府實現實質而不是形式上的平等。

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations in 1979, becoming the first human rights convention to define discrimination against women and call for state parties to take all necessary measures to eliminate such discrimination. This dissertation examines how this international norm has been used to target women’s issues all over the world, and how these broad concepts are understood at the local level. While CEDAW has a total of 30 articles, each pertaining to a different aspect of discrimination, this dissertation focusses on article 5, which requires State Parties to eliminate gender bias in societal and cultural practices. An analysis of how this article has been understood and applied allows an insight into the processes described by Levitt and Merry in their concept of ‘vernacularisation’. That is, how the interaction between different local, national and occasionally global actors ultimately shapes how the norms contained in international human rights conventions are understood and used on the ground. Although Taiwan, as the Republic of China, withdrew from the UN in 1971, the combination of an active and globally minded women’s movement with a government looking for international recognition led to Taiwan passing international human rights treaties, including CEDAW. This dissertation conducts qualitative research on how article 5 has been understood and applied in Taiwan, through a close analysis of materials used in its Country Reports and review mechanism. In order to shine a light on how this compares to other countries in the region, the Taiwan case study is compared to an initial analysis of article 5 in Japan and South Korea. This dissertation concludes that article 5 is indeed understood and applied differently across these three regions. Initial research suggests that this is in large part down to the role of the local women’s movements in the process of vernacularisation, meaning an understanding of how article 5 is used can also reveal the main concerns of women’s movements in different areas. The conclusion calls for further research into article 5, while calling attention to its role in ensuring government backing for changes which will lead to substantive, rather than formal, equality.