REPORT on IMPLEMENTATION of CEDAW in the PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC of CHINA December 1998
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CEDAW IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA December 1998 A Report with Recommendations and Questions for the Chinese Government Representatives By Human Rights in China Asia Monitor Resource Centre China Labour Bulletin Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 List of abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………………..9 Articles 1 and 2: Definition of Discrimination and Measures to Combat it………………………………………….....10 Overview……………………………………………………………………………………………….10 Article 1: Definition of discrimination…………………………………………………………………11 Article 2: Anti-discrimination laws and policies……………………………………………………….12 Administrative enforcement……………………………………………………………………………13 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives……………………………………………..13 Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………….…..14 Article 6: Suppression of Trafficking in Women………………………………………………….….14 Overview ...……………………………………………………………………………………………14 Background……………………………………………………………………………………….……15 Domestic trafficking ..…………………………………………………………………………………16 International trafficking ..……………………………………………………………………………...17 Some progress on laws, continuing questions about implementation ..……………………………….19 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives ..…………………………………………..21 Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………………22 Article 7: Political and Public Life ..…………………………………………………………………..23 Overview ……………………………………………………………………………………..………23 Political participation has not substantially increased ..……………………………………………….23 Women’s Federation bows to CCP priorities ..………………………………………………………..24 Structure of the ACWF ..………………………………………………………………………………25 Laws on non-profits restrict representation of women ..………………………………………………26 Independent women’s groups ..………………………………………………………………………..27 A compliant union ..…………………………………………………………………………………...28 Independent organizing ..……………………………………………………………………………...30 Weak and ineffectual state machinery ..……………………………………………………………….30 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives ..…………………………………………..31 Recommendations ..……………………………………………………………………………………32 Article 11: Employment ..……………………………………………………………………………...32 Overview .......………………………………………………………………………………………….32 1.a Right to work ...……..……………………………………………………………………………33 How many are unemployed? .………………………………………………………………………...34 Women particularly hard hit ..…………………………………………………………………………34 1998 REPORT TO CEDAW HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA Protests…………………………………………………………………………………………………36 Retraining programs ...…………………………………………………………………………………37 1.b Right to same opportunities ….…..………………………………………………………………...38 1.c Right to choice of profession……………………………………………………………………….40 1.d Equal pay ....………………………………………………………………………………………..42 Unpaid work……………………………………………………………………………………………43 1.e Social security and benefits………………………………………………………………………...43 1.f Occupational health and safety ...…………………………………………………………………..45 Working conditions in the industrial sector…………………………………………………………….45 2. Maternity benefits…………………………………………….……………………………………...47 The workers who don’t exist: conditions in the sex industry…..………………………………………48 Legal protections for women’s employment rights ..………………………………………………….52 —Labor Law……………………………………………………………………………………………52 —Women’s Law………………………………………………………………………………………..55 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives…………..…………………………………55 Recommendations…………………………………….………………………………………………...55 Article 12: Equality in Access to Health Care…………………………………………………………57 Overview………………………………………………………………………………………………..57 Effects of health care reform ..………………………………………………………………………...57 Health emergency: lack of psychiatric care …………………………………………………………...59 HIV/AIDS—insufficient action ………………………………………………………………………..61 Other health issues ……………………………………………………………………………………..63 Problems with maternal health .……………………………………………………………………....64 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives ……………………..……………………65 Recommendations .……………………………………………………………………………………66 Article 14: Rural Women……………………………………………………………………………….66 Overview………………………………………………………………………………………………..66 Growing inequality…………………………………………………………………………………..…67 Widespread, persistent poverty………………………………………………………………………....68 Under- and unemployment……………………………………………………………………………..69 Lack of social security………………………………………………………………………………….69 Lack of quality education……………………………………………………………………………....70 Discrimination against women………………………………………………………………………....71 Feminization of agriculture…………………………………………………………………………….71 Second class status of rural migrants…………………………………………………………………..71 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives…..………………………………………….72 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………………….72 Article 16: Population Policy………………………………………………………………………...…73 Introduction ..………………………………………………………………………………………..….73 Overview of abuses relating to the policy …...………………………………………………………...74 Laws and regulations ….……………………………………………………………………………...75 Current trends and perspectives .……………………………………………………………………..76 State-sanctioned violence …. …………………………………………………………………………77 Economic sanctions and fees …………………………………………………………………………..80 2 1998 REPORT TO CEDAW HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA Impunity ……………………………………………………………………………………………….81 Eugenic measures … …………………………………………………………………………………..81 Access to family planning services ....…………………………………………………………………82 Discrimination against the girl child ….………………………………………………………………..83 The “missing” girls …...……………………………………………………………………………….84 Groups of particular concern ………………………………………………………………………..86 —Migrants ..…………………………………………………………………………………………..86 —The poor ..…………………………………………………………………………………………..86 Questions to ask the Chinese government representatives .....………………………………………..87 Recommendations …..…………………………………………………………………………………87 3 1998 REPORT TO CEDAW HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CEDAW IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA December 1998 Introduction This shadow report has been produced by independent organizations in Hong Kong and New York, with input from many academics and activists, some inside China, and contributions from many volunteers. The general sections of the Introduction and the discussion of Article 7 and Article 11 have been produced jointly by the Asia Monitor Resource Centre, China Labour Bulletin, the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee and Human Rights in China.1 The rest of the report is the contribution of Human Rights in China.2 This report does not cover all the issues relating to women’s rights, but highlights what we consider to be some of the most pressing problems on which sufficient information is available to us. Considering the serious problems of discrimination faced by many Chinese women across the country today, and the fact that women and girls have suffered disproportionately from the negative effects of government policies on the economy, health and population, the Chinese government’s current report to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is severely inadequate. Throughout the report there is a distinct lack of information about the nature and extent of current discriminatory practices, and on how or whether these laws, policies and programs are implemented in practice, the obstacles met while implementing them, including traditional practices, which agencies are responsible for enforcing them, what punitive measures are available in case of non-compliance and whether such punishments have been used. It fails to mention altogether some of the most severe problems facing women. Furthermore, in the description of plans to implement the Beijing Platform for Action and other commitments the Chinese government has made to women, there are few indications of time-bound targets, benchmarks for monitoring, or details on the allocation of resources. Thus the report is primarily a description of what the situation should be according to law, not of the reality of women’s lives. In most cases, this is not due to a shortage of such information. This shadow report has been prepared by NGOs outside China, but much of the information it contains comes from research and reporting by activists, journalists, academics and scholars published inside China, mostly openly in the Chinese media and in books and journals. Although the government report was drafted by officials from the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF), it ignores news and commentary on problems of discrimination faced by women published daily in the Federation’s own newspaper, China Women’s News, as well as the many reports and studies prepared by Federation researchers, let alone those by women activists and scholars in other institutions. Since the late 1980s, and particularly in the years just before China hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women, a great deal of research has been done on women’s status and a number of women’s studies centers have been set up in universities, in the ACWF and in independent institutions. They have produced a myriad of publications, held many conferences and launched all sorts of initiatives to provide new types of social services to women. 1 AMRC, CLB and HKCIC are Hong Kong-based organizations which focus on labor rights issues. HRIC has its head office in New York and a branch office in Hong Kong. 2 As well as the staff of the organization, Human Rights in China would like to thank the following people for their invaluable contributions: Ann Jordan, Mark Girouard, Karen Brenizer, Mehlika Hoodbhoy, Li Xiaorong, Alexandra Moller, Isabella