China's harsh family planning policy limits urban couples to one child, while in rural areas parents of a girl can petition authorities for permission to have a son. Some local officials zealously enforce the policy through sanctions and even forced abortion and sterilization. Couples adhering to the policy receive preferential education, food, and medical benefits, while those failing to comply face a loss of benefits and fines. Failure to pay the fines sometimes results in seizure of livestock and other goods and destruction of homes. Dissidents in Xinjiang report that authorities often force Muslim women to have abortions and sterilizations after their first child.
Women face social and economic discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.
In rural areas, there are high incidences of women being abducted or otherwise sold into prostitution or marriage. Independent trade unions are illegal. Strikes are occasionally permitted in foreign-owned factories to protest dangerous conditions and low wages. Most prisoners are required to work and receive little if any compensation. Urban middle-class Chinese enjoy increased freedom to work, travel, enter into relationships, and buy homes as they choose.