page_title: Feminism in China
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Feminism in China / History / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: Scope and content: Photographer: Sharon Farmer
context_page_description: Feminism in China began in the 20th century in tandem with the Chinese Revolution. Feminism in modern China is closely linked with socialism and class issues. Some commentators believe that this close association is damaging to Chinese feminism and argue that the interests of the party are placed before those of women.
context_section_description: In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was convened in Beijing. This is the first United Nations conference held in China. In a show of hospitality, then President Jiang Zemin announced at the opening ceremony that "men-women equality is a basic national policy". The phrasing became the political cornerstone of all post-1995 gender and women's development policy directory published by China's State Council and the Women's Federation. Along with the Conference, a parallel forum of NGO panel was held in the Huairou district in Beijing. The concept of Non-Government Organization (NGO) was thus introduced into China,  giving rise to many feminist alliances in 21st century China, such as the Beijing Zhongze Legal Consulting Service Center led by Guo Jianmei, the Henan Shequ Educational Research Center, and the Anti-Domestic Violence Network which spearheaded the 20-year long campaign of enacting anti-domestic violence law, etc. The 1995 Conference also prompted the CCP to reform relevant government structures responsible for China's gender development. The National Working Committee on Children and Women (NWCCW) was esbalished in anticipation of the Conference in 1993. The Women's Federation, which was technically a People's Organization pre-1995, was orally pronouced by the Beijing government at the Conference as a Non-Governmental Organization. The 1995 UN Conference also introduced concepts such as gender mainstreaming and domestic violence into China.
  In 2001, China amended its marriage law, so that abuse was considered grounds for divorce.
  In 2005, China added new provisions to the Law on Women's Right Protection to include sexual harassment.  In 2006 "The Shanghai Supplement" was drafted to help further define sexual harassment in China.
  In 2013, the first woman to bring a gender discrimination lawsuit in China, a 23-year-old who went by the pseudonym of Cao Ju, won a small settlement of 30,000 yuan and an official apology from the Juren Academy.
  In 2015, China enacted its first nationwide law prohibiting domestic violence, although it excluded same-sex couples and did not address sexual violence. The law also defined domestic violence for the first time. Domestic violence had become a subject of much public debate in China in 2011, when Kim Lee posted pictures of her bruised face on Chinese social media and accused her husband Li Yang of domestic violence. She later stated in the New York Times that police had told her no crime had happened; Li admitted beating her but criticized her for discussing private things in public.
  In 2017, the Sina Weibo account of Feminist Voices (Nuquan Zhisheng, 女权之声), an important feminist organization in China, was suspended for thirty days after they posted an article about the planned women's strike in the United States on March 8 (International Women's Day). In March 2018 the account was deleted.
  In 2019, a government directive was released banning employers in China from posting "men preferred" or "men only" job advertising, and banning companies from asking women seeking jobs about their childbearing and marriage plans or requiring applicants to take pregnancy tests.
caption: Hillary Clinton Addresses the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women at the Beijing International Conference Center in Bejiing, China
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