Chinese woman in rural Jiangxi, People's Republic of China

Since 1949, the government of People's Republic of China has actively promoted the social, economic and political roles of women in society. While advancing progress in promoting equality among men and women, the efforts met resistance in a traditionally Neo-Confucian society of male superiority.

Ancient China

All-China Women's Federation

In 1949, All-China Women's Federation was founded to "represent and to protect women’s rights and interests, and to promote equality between men and women." It was a multi-tier GONGO organization "with local women’s federations and group members at every divisional level of government."

Progress in promoting equality

"In 1949, when the PRC was founded, employed women accounted for only 7% of the workforce; in 1992, however, the figure was 38%. Women's contribution to family income went from 20% in the 1950s to 40% in the 1990s. In 1982, Chinese working women made up 43% of the total population, higher than the percentages enjoyed by American women (35.3%) or Japanese women (36%)." ^[1]

Gender disparity

Mainland China has a highly masculine sex ratio. The sex ratio at birth (between male and female births) in mainland China reached 117:100 in the year 2000, substantially more masculine than the natural baseline, which ranges between 103:100 and 107:100. It had risen from 108:100 in 1981—at the boundary of the natural baseline—to 111:100 in 1990.^[2] According to a report by the State Population and Family Planning Commission, there will be 30 million more men than women in 2020, potentially leading to social instability.^[3] The correlation between the increase of masculine sex ratio disparity on birth and the deployment of one child policy would appear to have been caused by the one-child policy.

However, other Asian regions also have higher than average ratios, including Taiwan (110:100) , which do not have a family planning policy.^[4] Many studies have explored the reason for the gender-based birthrate disparity in China as well as other countries. A study in 1990 attributed the high preponderance of reported male births in mainland China to four main causes: diseases which affect females more severely than males; the result of widespread under-reporting of female births;^[5] the illegal practice of sex-selective abortion made possible by the widespread availability of ultrasound; and finally, acts of child abandonment and infanticide.

Prostitution

Shortly after taking power in 1949, the Communist Party of China embarked upon a series of campaigns that purportedly eradicated prostitution from mainland China by the early 1960s. However, since the loosening of government controls over society in the early 1980s, prostitution in mainland China not only has become more visible, but also can now be found throughout both urban and rural areas. In spite of government efforts, prostitution has now developed to the extent that it comprises an industry, one that involves a great number of people and produces a considerable economic output. Prostitution has also become associated with a number of problems, including organized crime, government corruption and sexually transmitted diseases.

Second wives

The phenomenon of de facto polygamy, or so-called "second wives" (二奶 èrnǎi in Chinese), has reemerged in recent years.^[6] There are many villages in southern part of China where predominantly such women live. ^[7] This situation has created many social and legal issues

Abuse

It has been reported that there has been an outbreak of domestic violence in China involving Chinese women committing violence against Chinese men. In 2003 10% of violence in families involved male victims. The wives beat their husbands, and some cut off their penises. In Wuxi in Jiangsu province a man had his penis cut off by his wife.^[8]

On July 21, 2008, the All China women's Federation reported that in Nanjing, China, it was reported that several wives cut off their husband's penis because they could not stand that their husbands were gambling or cheating on them. These are classified as a "crime of impulsion" by prosecutors in Nanjing, because the women go through an "emotional crisis". Most of these female criminals were younger than 35, and receive only a suspended sentence or one below three years, and are sent back home.^[9]

See also

• Gender equality
• Gender inequality
• Urban and Rural society in the People's Republic of China
• Women in ancient China
• Women's healthcare in the People's Republic of China
• Feminism in China
• Impact of globalization on women in China
• Globalization and women in China

Further reading

• (pdf doc.) Women in the People's Republic of China (Country Briefing Paper) by the Asian Development Bank (Pub. Date: 1998)
• King, Dean (2010). Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 432 pages. ISBN 978-0316167086. 

References

1. ^ Chen, C.C. and Yu, KC and Miner, JB (1997). "Motivation to Manage: A Study of Women in Chinese State-Owned Enterprises". The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 33 (2): 160. doi:10.1177/0021886397332006. 
2. ^ http://www.cicred.org/Eng/Seminars/FDA/papers/18_ChenWei.pdf^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Chinese facing shortage of wives". BBC. 2007-01-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6254763.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-12. 
4. ^ See the C.I.A. report Sex ratio. The ratio in South Korea reached as high as 116:100 in the early 1990s but since then has moved substantially back toward a normal range, with a ratio of 107:100 in 2005. See "Where Boys Were Kings, a Shift Toward Baby Girls," New York Times, December 24, 2007.
5. ^ For a study in China that revealed under-reporting or delayed reporting of female births, see M. G. Merli and A. E. Raftery. 1990. "Are births under-reported in rural China? Manipulation of statistical records in response to China's population policies", Demography 37 (February): 109-126.
6. ^ 王利明; Bubba, T; Esposito, A (Oct 2001). "婚姻法修改中的若干问题". Ƴ�学 55 (4): 505–11. ISSN 0969-8043. PMID 11545503. 
7. ^ 比奇汉娜 (2007). "中国的离婚现象". ś�外社会科学文摘. 
8. ^ "Survey says 10% of family violence victims are men". China Daily HK Edition. 2003-09-03. http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-09/03/content_260857.htm. Retrieved December 26, 2010. 
9. ^ chinagate.com.cn- longhoo.net/Translated by womenofchina.cn (July 21, 2008). "Status Quo of Female Criminals in Nanjing". All-China Women's Federation. http://www.womenofchina.cn/html/report/94105-1.htm. Retrieved November 14, 2010. 

External links

• 中国妇女网 All-China Women's Federation — Official website.

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