NEWS//Women's rights in China

On September 9, the New York Times published an article the highlighted "the prevalence of domestic violence [against women] and the difficulties [they encounter] of getting justice in a legal system stacked against them."

An example

The article told the story of a 24-year-old woman who was a frequent victim of her husband's temper. In August 2019, she jumped from a second-story window to escape his attack and threats of murder. The fall caused fractures in her waist, chest, and eye socket, and her lower limbs temporarily paralyzed.

Over the next months, she was unsuccessful in getting the police or the court system to provide adequate help. This was the case in spite of video of her husband beating her.

In June 2020, she filed for divorce but she encountered more barriers. One was that he husband had no agreed to divorce here.

Following that, she uploaded the video of her beating to WeChat (a social media platform similar to Facebook). With increased public attention, the courts granted her a divorce three weeks later.

Women harassed for protesting harassment. Photo appears here:

Sexual harassment and job discrimination

Human Rights Watch's 2019 report found, "While women in China may be more willing to speak out against sexual harassment, seeking legal redress is still very difficult. Chinese law prohibits sexual harassment, but its failure to define the term makes meaningful legal action nearly impossible.”

"Women continue to face widespread discrimination in the job market. In the 2018 national civil service job list, 19 percent specified a requirement or preference for men, up from 13 percent from the previous year. Technology giants including Alibaba and Tencent pledged to ensure gender equality in their recruitment."

Women in government

Discrimination against women is apparent throughout China's government. Aljazeera notes, "In 70 years, not one woman has ever been appointed to the country’s highest governing body, the Politburo Standing Committee. Among the wider 25-person Politburo, only one woman is included, and of 31 provincial-level governments, not one is led by a woman."

Sources: New York Times, Human Rights Watch, Aljazeera, A Safe World for Women