DAWN TALKS ON COVID - 19 - CAI YIPING - JUNE 2020 1 gender, surveillance& rights reflections onthepandemic: A Chinesefeminist’s CAI YIPING DAWN TALKS ON COVID - 19 - CAI YIPING - JUNE 2020 2 of COVID-19 are mainly from Chinesereturning from overseas travels. mobile apps to signify, they are not from high-risk areas. The new cases they leave their homes andare required to present the codeon their measures have beenimplemented; everyone must wear masksonce and it seems that life has returned to normal.However, certain witness traffic jams, people are dining out at their favourite restaurants of hope emerges. Children are now playing inparks, major citiesnow two-thirdsHubei,of which supported were personnel women. treatment. By mid-April, it was reported that a total of 42, 600medical of collapse—a result of the flooding inofpatientsseeking diagnosisand to andHubei provinces as the health workers were on the verge hibernation 1.4billionpeople. imposed andit was asif the virus pressed a magicbutton putting into people was stoppedandconfinement measures were soonnationally before the ChineseNew Year, Wuhan was locked down. Movement of at the popular bakeries inpreparation for the Spring Festival. Two days cities. The exception, were the patrons queuedup to buy festival food wearing masksand the lack of vehicles andpedestriansin the two Year—the Spring Festival. took a train from Beijing to Tianjin to visit her parents for ChineseNew is transmittable amongst people. After a month had passed,Cai Yiping Health—that the new (discovered in Wuhan) announced onCCTV—on behalfof the National Commissionof

100 days have passedsince the lockdown of Wuhan anda glimpse Soon after, doctorsandnursesacross the country were deployed She noticed the few passengers travelling onpublic transport On January 20,202083-year-old Dr Nanshan solemnly DAWN TALKS ON COVID - 19 - CAI YIPING - JUNE 2020 3 purchase groceries—has never beenmore prevalent. RobinLi, the CEO with family andfriends, for education, work and entertainment and reliance on the internet—toaccessnews andinformation, stay in touch with disabilitiesandHIV, amongst others. vulnerable—migrant workers, those inruralareas, gig workers, those the harsh lives ofpeople who are already living inpoverty andare ideologically andpractically. Furthermore, the epidemicexacerbates division of labour and women as the principalcaregivers are left intact, the perception ofde-feminising. In the caseofprivate sphere, gender needs are far from recognized. Even worse, their meritsare basedon the contributionof women health workers iscomplimentedbut their see gender stereotyping of women in the media. In the public domain, addition to the climbing curve ofCOVID-19 cases,it isdisheartening to democracy andgovernance, ecological unsustainability andmore. In patriarchy, violence anddiscrimination,crisisofcare, deficit of and intensifying the many struggles we have long undergone—inequality,

In the days ofquarantine, lockdown andsocial-distancing, the COVID-19 isnot a great equalizer, it isa great amplifier. Revealing to unprecedented levels. and escalated citizensurveillance and data infrastructure insociety the constructionofdigitization This pandemichasaccelerated DAWN TALKS ON COVID - 19 - CAI YIPING - JUNE 2020 4 positions) accountable. respective contexts) and the need to hold people (those insupreme to reflect on who are at thebottom of thepower(in structure the are asdeadly as the virus. This isa good reminder for the world distancing, whilst denial,arrogance, discriminationandscapegoating and solidarity canmitigate the fear andmistrust in the times ofsocial diligently ina respectable and humane manner. Kindness,sympathy were unforgettable moments where people performed their duties her journey back home—took more than a monthanda half—there go, whom to meet, the durationof her stay, etc.Despite the length of and verification on travel plans,she was alsodirected on where to from Europe to Beijing inMarch. Shereceived callsfrom the authorities persist post-crisis. but it alsogives noindicationor information on how long this could infrastructure insociety andescalatedcitizensurveillance to new levels pandemic has accelerated the constructionof the digitizationanddata the community needs to verify the Health Codeon their phones. This but a forced obligation. Every resident and visitor who entersor exits the context of the pandemic, this isno longer a hypocritical choice, “Chinese people are willing to give upprivacy for convenience”. In of Baidu, the largest Chinesesearch engine company, oncestated This isashortversionofCaiYiping’s originaltextwrittenin May 26,2020. Yiping experienced this new efficient system on her journey DAWN TALKS ON COVID - 19 - CAI YIPING - JUNE 2020 5 processes. development agenda,theICPDandBeijingreview Her current workfocuses on thesustainable mainstreaming. gender-based violence,SRHRandgender Her areas offocus includemediaandcommunications, international agenciesandnon-profit organizations. Yiping hasdeepexperience workingwithgovernment, Women, heldinBeijing NGOs inChinaafterthe4 She participated increating several vibrant women’s Health andRights(SRHR) She co-leadsDAWN’s Sexual andReproductive is aChinesefeministauthorandactivist. CAI YIPING (1995). th World Conference on activities. DAWN TALKS ON COVID - 19 - CAI YIPING - JUNE 2020 6 COVID-19 PANDEMIC. WITH DAWN FEMINISTSABOUT THE A SERIESOFFOUR CONVERSATIONS Please consider theenvironment before printingthisPDF. dawnnet.org 08:00 Delhi|Suva8:00pmUTC 4:00 pmBeijing|1:30New THURSDAY, 18 available viaZoom|spacesare limited Registration on TH

JUNE,2020

bit.ly/DAWNTalks1