October 1, 2002 marked the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women. As China's first comprehensive law that guaranteed women's rights and interests and promoted gender equality, the legislation has reflected how serious the Chinese government viewed these issues. It also indicated efforts in China to guarantee women's rights had entered a new era.
Over the past 10 years, Chinese governments at all levels have proclaimed and publicized two copies of the Program for Chinese Women's Development - one with a five-year term and the other with a 10-year term. In addition, women's rights and interests have been guaranteed national economic and social-development plans, institutions to protect women and children have been established and improved, and several additional and related laws and regulations been implemented. As a result of these initiatives and laws, Chinese women's status has been improved in politics, economics and society.

Enhancing Women's Roles in State and Society's Decision-making

The Central Committee and all local governments have implemented the rules and regulations in the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, which has resulted in many major achievements in selecting and training women cadres. There currently are 15 women ministers and vice-ministers in the State Council's 29 departments, and 56 women leading cadres in China's 31 provincial, autonomous regional and municipal governments. There were 593 women leading cadres by the end of 2001in China's 393 cities - including regions, prefectures and leagues - and 3,888 women leading cadres in the nation's 2,809 counties - including towns, districts and banners (administrative division of county level in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region).

Protection of Women's Labor Rights Enhanced

Since the law was implemented, labor-protection government departments at all levels have taken these issues seriously, and have paid special attention to them. They have drafted and implemented additional laws and regulations aimed at enhancing enforcement of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women - with stipulations specifically addressing sexual discrimination in employment and special-labor protection for women workers. They also implemented labor-contract and collective-bargaining systems. Ninety-five percent of State-owned enterprises, collective enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises had by 2001 signed labor contracts; the collective-contract system involved more than 76 million workers. Inspections and law enforcement of labor rights have also been strengthened. In May 2002, in coordination with the National People's Congress, labor-protection departments at all levels organized a law-enforcement inspection on the Law of Protection for Women's Rights and Interests.

The Urban Workers' Birth Insurance pilot project was also implemented. Regulations guiding implementation of birth insurance have been enhanced across China, related policies have been improved and various reforms are being conducted. Fourteen provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities had by June implemented and publicized local laws and regulations on birth insurance; the social cooperative fund had also been introduced in more than half of China's cities and 34.78 million employees have been given the insurance.

Governments at all levels have adopted various special-support measures to protect laid-off women's rights and help them find new jobs. Those measures were: Development of employment services; posts for employment in communities that suited women's characteristics; and employment aid for laid-off or unemployed women who have trouble finding new employment. The 100,000 entities across China had by the end of 2001 had employed 1.2 million people, 840,000, or 70 percent, of which were women.

Violators Punished

Since China implemented the Law protecting women's rights and interests, public security departments have drafted and put into effect several related laws and regulations, which have played a positive role in curbing and preventing illegal acts - including abducting and trafficking in women, prostitution and domestic violence.

Public security departments in the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have also enacted laws and regulations aimed at safeguarding women's rights.

In recent years, China's Ministry of Public Security has cooperated with the United Nations Children's Fund and implemented a project to protect women and children from violence and against trafficking of people. Twenty-five terms of training classes on China's legislation have been conducted across the country, and 1,500 police officers have participated. Three centers - in Yunnan, Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces - have been established to accommodate, train and rehabilitate women and children rescued from such situations. A similar pilot project has been created in Henan Province's Xinye County.

Promoting Awareness Among Women

The All-China Women's Federation and its branches have initiated programs to promote awareness of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women among women; these activities have helped enhance women's knowledge of the law and how to use it to protect themselves.

The ACWF has also conducted investigations and research and identified major problems related to women's rights and interests, and made various suggestions to legislatures and government departments. The ACWF has also participated in the drafting and revisions of laws, regulations and policies, which, in turn, helped strengthen the protection of women's rights.

Over the past 10 years, women's federations across China, according to specific local conditions, have helped draft and implement rules, regulations and measures to protect women's rights. The ACWF encouraged women, experts and scholars to make suggestions when the Chinese Government was revising the Marriage Law. They also made several recommendations to the NPC when China was drafting legislation regarding the land-contract system in the rural areas. They had informed the NPC Standing Committee that women's rights and interests had for years been infringed upon in some regions when they entered into such contracts.

The ACWF and 14 other bodies - including the Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and ministries and commissions of the State Council - established in 2001 a national coordinating group to protect women and children's rights and interests. Through this group, they have exchanged information, examined major problems, and coordinated investigations.

Women's federations at and above the county level across China have established more than 2,000 coordinating offices, nearly 2,000 courts and collegiate benches with more than 7,000 cadres from women's federations as special invited jurors. They have also established more than 3,000 legal-aid centers for women and children.

To help women in poverty-stricken areas gain the basic rights to which they are entitled under the law, women's federations at all levels over the past 10 years have organized training of cultural knowledge and scientific technology for 120 million rural women. These programs have helped 30 million women learn to read, over 5 million laid-off women workers retrain, and more than 2 million laid-off women workers find new jobs.

During the 10 years since the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women was implemented, China has routinely publicized the basic state policy on gender equality, improved protection of women's rights and interests and developed the course of Chinese women. Through further efforts, Chinese women will have a brighter future.

Establishing Advocacy Groups to the Protection of Legal Rights and Interests of Women and Children

In recent years, to more effectively safeguard women and children's legal rights and interests and to better protect disadvantaged groups, women's federations across China have adopted various measures, enhanced their efforts and established various organizations - like advocacy groups - to protect women and children's rights. The federations and organizations have worked with relevant units and departments.

On August 29, the office to protect women and children's rights, attached to Hunan Province's Zhuzhou City Legal Aid Center, opened after two months of preparation. The center's part-time staff members are from the federation's Department of Rights and Interests, and three full-time women lawyers are advisors. The office provides legal aid to poverty-stricken or disadvantaged women and children.

Yunnan Province's Luquan County Women's Federation and the county's court established the collegiate bench to protect women and children's legal rights and interests. The bench is affiliated with the second civil court. It is expected the bench will ensure abused women and children's legal rights and interests are protected. The bench is a substantial step forward in building a socialized network of rights protection.

With the city's bureau of justice, Shaanxi Provinces' Hancheng City Women's Federation has established complaint centers to help protect the rights of women and children in rural areas. Town-level women's federations, as urgers and coordinators, are responsible for the receipt and registration of letters of appeal. Branch offices of justice are responsible for investigating and handling the appeals.

With the counties' women's federation's efforts, programs aimed at curbing domestic violence have been established in Heyang, Shaanxi Province. The federation started a hotline to receive abuse complaints from women. The federation also opened an appeal center. The county's bureau of public security opened a center to receive either calls or reports, and the county court established the Collegiate Bench to Protect Legal Rights and Interests of Women and Children. Complaint centers have been established in all towns in the county. They are supported by local police stations, courts, offices of justice and women's federations. In some villages, teams of anti-violence against women were set up.

Beijing Experiments with Options Aimed at Ending Domestic Violence in Rural Areas

To eliminate domestic violence in the rural areas, the Beijing Municipal Women's Federation implemented an anti-violence program in rural areas in outlying districts and counties, and created an anti-violence experimental area in Liubinbao Village, Beijing's Yanqing County.

To increase awareness about domestic violence, the Yanqing County Women's Federation, assisted by the Beijing Municipal Women's Federation, implemented a publicity campaign involving radio, television, newspapers and bulletin board. Local women also rehearsed a music-and-dance program and performed the show throughout the county.

To improve awareness among departments about domestic violence, the Yanqing County Women's Federation helped train relevant personnel in women's federations' branches and judiciaries within the county. The programs involved gender-awareness issues, and domestic violence and relevant laws and regulations.

Yanqing County Government also included anti-violence efforts in the county's plan for women's development, established a coordinating group consisting of relevant leaders of the county government, and main leaders of departments of the local women's federation and judiciaries. At the same time, centers against domestic violence at the county and township levels have been established. Full-time lawyers have been invited to provide consultations and handle cases.

In the past two years, centers against domestic violence have handled more than 100 complaints. Besides providing education and mediation, the workers have cooperated with relevant departments such as the departments of public security, procuratorate, and court to handle serious cases of domestic violence. The centers' staff members have gained abused women's trust, and the number of domestic violence incidents has been drastically reduced.

Injury Appraisal Agency for Women and Children Established in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province

The Ningbo Municipal Women's Federation and the city's bureau of public security recently established the Injury Appraisal Agency for Women and Children, aiming to eliminate violence against women and children and protect women and children's legal rights and interests.

The Department of Rights and Interests of the women's federation is responsible for the agency's work, and the city's research institute of criminal science and technology provides medical expertise.

The center's main tasks are: Receiving complaints involving cases in which women and children's personal rights and interests have been harmed; providing free legal advice; investigating with relevant departments the complaints; providing certificates of entrustment at litigants' requests, and when the Department of Rights and Interests deems it necessary; informing media of extreme abuse cases; and studying the abuse cases to determine cause of abuse and ways of ending domestic violence.

Hubei, Police Work Together to Curb Domestic Violence

By the end of June, Hubei Province's Xiaogan City Women's Federation provided gender-awareness and domestic-violence-prevention classes. Vice-directors from the city's eight bureaus of public security and more than 30 public security officers attended. At the end of the course, the directors inspected the alarm center and medical/legal expertise centers affiliated with Liaoning's Jinzhou City Bureau of Public Security. The initiatives increased authorities' awareness about domestic violence, and spurred them to diligently work to eradicate domestic violence.

Through training, the city's public security agency security officers have realized that they are responsible for combating domestic violence. Officials also developed a plan and specific measures to combat domestic violence:

1. Organizing all police officers to study the Program for Chinese Women's Development, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, the Law on the Protection of Minors and the newly promulgated Marriage Law; educating police officers to protect women and children and to strengthen their sense of responsibility to serve women and children; and encouraging police to study gender-related issues.

2. Fighting domestic violence by stressing prevention and mediation; establishing a quick-action network against domestic violence; making a public commitment; and sticking to the "three priorities" for the complaints from abused women, and effectively protecting domestic violence victims.

3. Utilizing grass-roots police stations and officers; adopting methods to crack down on criminal practices that harm the legal rights and interests of women and children; fighting the cycle and escalation of domestic violence: and protecting women from harm, and preventing abuse from becoming vicious crimes.

4. Investigating domestic violence in cities; creating a detailed chart for recording investigations, and to count and analyze domestic-violence cases reported in the past three years; writing report on the prevention and curbing of domestic violence; urging city governments to formulate laws and regulations and administrative documents to prevent and curb domestic violence; and forming a cooperative mechanism with other units or departments against domestic violence, providing economic, legal and mental help to abused women.

Committee of Women Workers Established in Non-Public Economic Organizations in Jiaozuo, Henan Province

To promote economic development and safeguard the interests of women workers in non-public economic organizations, the women's federation in Jiefang District, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province and the district's trade union have decided to establish the committee of women workers in the economic organizations of non-publicly owned firms.

To guarantee this work, the district has formed a leading group composed of district government, women's federation and trade union officials. The offices are set up under the direction of the leading group and the offices handling the affairs are in the district's women's federation. It has been stipulated that all non-publicly owned firms in the district with more than 10 women workers or staff must be requested to create a committee for these women. Details of how such committees are to be formed, and what their basic tasks and principles, where the fund comes have been stipulated.

Establishment of the committee for women staff and workers in non-publicly owned firms is important if education for women is to be enhanced and the protection of women is to be strengthened. It is crucial that two programs - Women's Achievements in Their Work and Women's Civilized Demonstrative Post - be introduced into the organizations. The establishment of the committee for women workers is also significant for promoting economic development and social stability.