context: The amendment to 'Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Law' was released for public consultation on 24 Dec 2021. It received unprecedented levels of public attention, indicating progress in social justice and political participation in an authoritarian environment.
Within a month, the proposed amendment to 'Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Law' received a total of 423,719 comments from 85,221 individuals on the NPC's (National People's Congress) call for comment online platform, setting an unprecedented record, reports Beijing Youth Daily.
This success can largely be attributed to mobilisation on social media platforms, says the article. Many 'Influencers' on Weibo—the Chinese Twitter, Bilibili—the Chinese YouTube, and WeChat spoke out, encouraging citizens to participate in the public opinion-seeking process. Lawyers, women's rights experts, advocates and opinion leaders also played a critical role.
Leading voices called for
- stricter punishment for workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment
- a ban on birth surrogacy
- higher female representation in grassroots public administration offices
- more transparent public supervision mechanisms
- equal pay
The PRC has seen an awakening on gender equality following the #Metoo movement and the global fight for women's rights. The drafting of the Domestic Violence Law in 2015 had sparked a similar public debate, pointed out Li Sipan 李思磐 feminist scholar.
However, many of those who submitted comments are struggling with their lack of knowledge and comment-writing skills, according to Feng Yuan 冯媛, a spokesperson for Equality, a Beijing-based NGO initiated by feminist activists and scholars. A feminist NGO NotJustVictims urged further clarification on the role of the government, NGOs and the public in the enforcement mechanism for women's rights.