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• The Chinese Constitution and national laws provide that men and women should enjoy equal rights and list protections for the economic and social rights of women, but vague language and inadequate implementation hinder the effectiveness of these legal protections. Some provincial and municipal governments have passed regulations to strengthen the implementation of national laws. A 2005 amendment to the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women prohibits sexual harassment and domestic violence, promotes a greater voice for women in the government, and charges several government organizations with responsibility for preventing human trafficking and rehabilitating victims.

• Civil society groups in China advocate on behalf of women's rights within the confines of government and Communist Party policy. The All-China Women's Federation, a Party-led mass organization, works with the Chinese government to support women's rights, implement programs for disadvantaged women, and provide a limited measure of legal counseling and training for women. Women, however, have limited earning power compared to men, despite government policies that guarantee women non-discrimination in employment and occupation.

• Human trafficking remains pervasive in China despite efforts by government agencies to combat trafficking, a framework of domestic laws to address the problem, and ongoing cooperation with international anti-trafficking programs. The government's population planning policy has created a severe imbalance in the male-female birth ratio, and this imbalance exacerbates trafficking of women and girls for sale as brides. Between 10,000 and 20,000 men, women, and children are victims of trafficking within China each year, and NGOs estimate that 90 percent of those victims are women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation. Authorities are working with the International Labor Organization to build anti-trafficking capacity and raise domestic awareness of the problem.

Laws and Institutions

The Chinese Constitution and national laws provide that men and women should enjoy equal rights and list protections for the economic and social rights of women.¹ A 2005 amendment to the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women (LPRIW) prohibits sexual harassment and domestic violence, promotes a greater voice for women in the government, and charges several government organizations with responsibility for preventing human trafficking and rehabilitating victims.² Some provincial and municipal governments have passed regulations to strengthen the implementation of national laws. For example, 15 provinces and cities have passed anti-domestic violence regulations, and some localities have rules mandating that police respond to domestic abuse calls.³

Vague language and inadequate implementation hinder the effectiveness of these legal protections. The editor of the Beijing newspaper Women's News points out that the LPRIW does not define sexual harassment and domestic violence.⁴ According to one expert, many women know that laws exist to protect their rights, but do not understand what these rights are.⁵ Moreover, judges lack training on the laws protecting women's rights. One Peking University Law School professor notes that case rulings in domestic violence cases are inconsistent because Chinese laws and judicial explanations lack clear standards.⁶ Under a 1978 State Council regulation, employers can require women workers to retire five years before men.⁷ Courts have used this regulation to rule against women in employment cases, even though the practice contravenes the LPRIW.⁸ [See Section V(c)--Protection of Internationally Recognized Labor Rights--Non-discrimination in Employment and Occupation.] When determining who is eligible to receive shares of collectively owned village assets, village committees have made decisions that legitimize discrimination against women who have moved to their husband's village, or who have remained in the village in contravention of traditional marriage arrangements.⁹ The Law of the PRC on Land Contract in Rural Areas and the Marriage Law guarantee women the same land rights as men, including land contracts and compensation for requisitioned land, and since August 2005, judges have ruled in favor of women in four lawsuits concerning land rights.¹⁰

The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), a Communist Party-led mass organization, works with the Chinese government to support women's rights, implement programs for disadvantaged women, and provide a limited measure of legal counseling and training for women. The ACWF's close ties to the government allow it to secure funding for innovative methods to deal with women's problems.¹¹ According to one Chinese official, ACWF loans have helped increase education and employment opportunities for rural women living in poverty.¹² Urban district-level ACWFs are cooperating with judicial and law enforcement agencies to combat domestic violence by ensuring police intervention and improving evidence collection in domestic violence cases.¹³ The ACWF does not promote women's interests, however, when such interests conflict with Party policies that limit women's rights. For example, an ACWF representative in Yunnan refused to allow a leading women's rights activist to represent over 500 women in Yunnan who were seeking redress for lost land, on the grounds that such interference could "influence stability."¹⁴ In addition, the ACWF has been silent about the abuses of the government population planning policy and is complicit in coercive enforcement of birth limits¹⁵ [see Section V(h)--Population Planning].

Civil society groups in China advocate for women's rights within the confines of government and Party policy. Working with the ACWF, the Chinese Legal Aid Foundation has set up a fund to encourage volunteers to provide expert legal advice for economically disadvantaged women.¹⁶ Women lawyers represent women in lawsuits involving sexual harassment, domestic violence, and compensation for land seizures, and newspapers such as Women's News publicize the cases.¹⁷ In October 2005, six domestic Chinese women's organizations attended a symposium to share best practices,¹⁸ and women lawyers, entrepreneurs, mayors, and reporters have also begun to form associations to raise the profile of women in these professions.¹⁹

Gender Disparities

Women have limited earning power compared to men, despite government policies that guarantee women non-discrimination in employment and occupation. [See Section V(c)--Protection of Internationally Recognized Labor Rights--Nondiscrimination in Employment and Occupation.] Women have fewer opportunities for promotion than men²⁰ and have lower rates of employment at high-paying jobs than men.²¹ Employers demand that women have higher education levels than men to be hired for equivalent white-collar positions.²² Middle-aged women have lost their jobs more quickly than men as the state-owned manufacturing sector has undergone economic restructuring.²³ Some local governments have established programs to provide loans and training to women who have lost their jobs.²⁴

In rural areas, women have fewer economic opportunities than men and have less access to education. Men have more opportunities to engage in non-agricultural employment, and women are increasingly taking up uncompensated farming responsibilities.²⁵ Women now account for 60 percent of total rural laborers.²⁶ Some families emphasize the education of male children over female children.²⁷ According to statistics in a 2006 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report, 61 percent of boys and 43 percent of girls in rural areas have completed education higher than lower middle school.²⁸ Young women migrate to urban areas to find work, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking, forced labor, and other abuses.²⁹ According to a 2005 survey conducted in Hunan province, 74.8 percent of migrant women respondents in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, had experienced sexual harassment while working.³⁰

Chinese health statistics reflect women's disadvantaged status. Chinese women have a higher overall rate of infectious disease and disability than men.³¹ A lack of gender-sensitive anti-HIV/AIDS policies has led to a growing risk of infection for women³² [see Section V(g)--Public Health--HIV/AIDS]. According to one Chinese report, since the late 1990s, the proportion of female HIV/AIDS patients has risen. In the late 1990s, the ratio of infected men to women was 9:1. In 2006, the ratio was reported to be 3:1.³³ China is the only country in the world where the rate of suicide is higher among women than among men.³⁴ In rural areas, the instance of suicide among women is three to four times higher than the rate among men.³⁵

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking remains pervasive in China despite efforts by government agencies to combat trafficking, a framework of domestic laws to address the problem, and ongoing cooperation with international anti-trafficking programs. Traffickers are often linked to organized crime and specialize in abducting infants and young children for adoption and household service.³⁶ They also abduct girls and women for the bridal market in China's poorest areas and for sale as prostitutes.³⁷ According to the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, between 10,000 and 20,000 men, women, and children are victims of trafficking within China each year, and NGOs estimate that 90 percent of those victims are women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation.³⁸ The government's population planning policy has created a severe imbalance in the male-female sex ratio, and the imbalance exacerbates trafficking of women for sale as brides [see Section V(h)--Population Planning]. The Chinese official media reported that employees at state-run welfare organizations in Hunan province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region engaged in infant trafficking in 2005.³⁹

Article 240 of the Criminal Law provides for severe punishment, including the death penalty, for abducting and trafficking women and children, and Article 416 contains provisions to punish officials who fail to rescue women and children who are abducted and trafficked.⁴⁰ Efforts by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), however, have not kept pace with increased trafficking. The number of victims of child trafficking increased by 15 percent over a two-year period beginning in 2003, according to unofficial government sources cited by foreign news media,⁴¹ but the number of trafficking-related arrests has declined since reaching a peak during an MPS enforcement campaign that began in 2000.⁴² China is a signatory to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, but not to its two protocols that address human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.⁴³ China's Criminal Law does not specifically address the issue of human trafficking as it relates to forced labor, and although the Labor Law outlaws forced labor practices in the workplace, it only provides light penalties for violators.⁴⁴ [For more information on forced labor, see Section V(c)--Protection of Internationally Recognized Labor Rights--Elimination of Forced Labor.]

State Council ministries, as well as employers' and workers' organizations, are cooperating with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to build anti-trafficking capacity and raise domestic awareness of the problem.⁴⁵ For example, an ILO pilot program begun in 2000 to reduce the vulnerability of women and children to trafficking in Yunnan province has coordinated the resources of the All-China Women's Federation and other local agencies to raise awareness and rehabilitate victims of trafficking. The program has been expanded to five other provinces.⁴⁶