The move comes as the country’s birth rate has been falling sharply since 1978.
China prohibits employers from expressing their preferences at work or asking women who want to get married and become pregnant in accordance with the amendment to the XNUMX Women’s Rights Act.
The country’s highest court began reviewing amendments to the Women’s Rights and Protection Rights Monday, as part of a five-day conference ending Friday. The bill was first read before the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and could expire next year.
Although gender discrimination is already banned in China, the current laws are unclear, which makes them less likely to be enforced. The revised articles provide clear explanations and provide an accurate legal framework on issues such as torture, reports Xinhua News Agency.
Employers will be instructed to put in place measures to prevent, investigate and respond to such complaints, according to a report by China News Service, although laws failing to do so are not clear.
Although China opposes the local #MeToo group as a means of propagating white supremacy, a growing number of women have spoken out about their sexual orientation in recent years, embarking on an ancestral culture that shames the victims. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. earlier this month he fired a woman who had previously been charged with felony criminal mischief for felony criminal mischief.
Female employers have described in detail the Chinese media and the courts in the face of widespread discrimination in the workplace, including the forced signing of contractual agreements, according to Human Rights Watch, published in June. One-fifth of all government employment in China in 2019 expressed preference for men who will apply for jobs, the report found.
Stress for working women
China’s decision in May to allow couples to have a third child, to address the low birth rate since 1978, has encouraged female labor, HRW said.
“The current law on the protection of women’s rights and interests needs to be developed and promoted urgently,” said He Yiting, an employee of the NPC Committee on Social Development Affairs, according to Legal Daily.
Under these circumstances, educational institutions may not be permitted to refuse the requests of female students or the minimum requirements required for male students to meet the male gender roles. In rural areas, women should enjoy equal pay and property benefits, says the law, adding that offenders can be prosecuted.
However, these changes also include a warning that exceptions may be made to comply with national guidelines at school or job application.
Lawmakers are also considering reforms that will allow women to give birth illegally even if their husbands do not give them permission, Beijing newspaper reported. Some hospitals require men or relatives to give consent for the procedure.
The amendment is expected to be rewritten before the two are approved next year. The Representative Committee is reviewing some of the bills, including the revision of the Chinese Company Law, which would legally enact the Communist Party’s leadership in state-owned enterprises.
