Does China's Revised Women's Rights Protection Law Actually Promote Gender Inequality?

Tennis Player Peng Shuai's Sexual Assault Disclosure Leads to Amendment of Women's Rights Protection Act
Controversy Over Phrase 'Women Must Respect Family Values Beyond Social Morality and Professional Ethics'

A Chinese woman walking on the street. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Controversy has arisen over China's amendment to the Women's Rights Protection Law, which will take effect on January 1 next year, stating that "women must respect family values in addition to social morals and professional ethics." The legal wording that specifically instructs only women to respect family values is seen as deviating from the principle of gender equality.

On the 4th, Bloomberg reported that the aforementioned legal wording is placed at the beginning of the amended law explaining its most important principle, and that it rather acknowledges gender inequality rather than women's rights.

As Bloomberg pointed out, gender inequality is severe in China's real life. The most noticeable example is the retirement age difference between men and women. Currently, China legally sets the retirement age at 60 for men and 50 for women (55 for cadres). Career interruptions due to marriage and childbirth for women are commonplace in the workplace, gender discrimination is severe, and it is not easy for women to find employment. Bloomberg explained that China's recent record low birthrate and marriage avoidance phenomenon reflect the heavy burden on women.

Chinese female tennis star Peng Shuai (彭師) revealed on November 2 last year through Weibo (微博), known as the "Chinese Twitter," that she had a sexual relationship with former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (張高麗) under coercion. Following Peng Shuai's sexual assault allegation and the international attention on China's gender inequality issue, China moved to amend the Women's Rights Protection Law, which has been in effect since October 1, 1992.

However, this amendment does not significantly depart from the context emphasized by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his 2013 speech, where he stressed that "it is important for women to become good wives and mothers to ensure the healthy growth of the next generation."

Regarding this controversy, Guo Linmao (郭林毛), a member of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC), defended the amendment, stating that the revised law fully implements China's basic policy of gender equality. He highlighted that the amended law includes systematic improvements for preventing and handling sexual harassment and sexual violence, prohibits restrictions on the promotion of female employees due to marriage, pregnancy, or childbirth, and mandates active police response to female human trafficking and abduction. He added that such provisions in the Women's Rights Protection Law represent "progress for women."

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the status of women in China can also be seen in the fact that no women were elected among the 24 Politburo members of the Party Central Committee at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the country's largest political event held every five years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.