Women's status rising slowly in China: activist

ObserverswarnedthatsocialstatusofChinesewomenisimproving"slowly,"andcalledforgreaterparticipationofChinesewomeninpubliclife,aheadoftheInternationalWomen'sDaywhichfallsonWednesday.

Exceptforeducation,Chinesewomen'ssocialstatushasseenlittleimprovementintermsofhealth,income,employmentandpoliticalparticipationinrecentyears,FengYuan,awomen'srightsadvocateandco-founderofEquality,anon-governmentalorganizationthatfocusesongenderissues,toldtheGlobalTimes.

AccordingtoawhitepaperonGenderEqualityandWomen'sDevelopmentinChinaissuedbytheStateCouncilin2015,femalestudentsininstitutionsofhigherlearningaccountedfor52.1percentofundergraduatestudents.

ThebiggestreasonfortheslowimprovementinChinesewomen'sstatusistheirreluctancetoparticipateinpolitics,saidFeng,explainingthatitisthepoliticiansthatformulatepoliciestopromotegenderequality.

TheratiooffemaledeputiesoftheNationalPeople'sCongressreached23.4percentthatyear,or699outofatotalof2,987lawmakers,thehighestsincethefirstNationalPeople'sCongressin1954,theXinhuaNewsAgencyreportedin2013.

Among396membersofprovincialstandingcommitteesoftheCommunistPartyOfChina,only34arewomen.

AUNEconomicandSocialCouncilresolutionin1990thatisalsoacknowledgedbyChinahadrecommendedtargetsforincreasingtheproportionofwomeninleadershippositions: 30percentby1995and50percentby2000.

LuoRuixue,amemberoftheWomenAwakeningNetwork,awomen'srightsgroup,toldtheGlobalTimesthattheoutmodedpolicieshaveledtogenderdiscriminationinworkplacesaswellasincomegapbetweenmaleandfemaleemployees.

Asurveyof128,576peoplepublishedMondaybyzhaopin.com,oneofthebiggestjobrecruitmentsitesinChina,foundthatover80percentoftheChinesewomenbelievegenderdiscriminationstillexistsinrecruitment,addingthat44percentofthewomensurveyedsaidtheyhadnevergotpromoted,ChinaNewsServicereported.

Twenty- onepercentofthefemalerespondentssaidtheybelievepeoplelackconfidenceinwomen'sabilitytoassumeleadership,makingtheminsecureaboutbecomingaleader,andthewomenwhoholdleadershippositionsfacemorechallengesandhavetomakemoreefforts.Zhipin.com,anotherChinesejobrecruitmentsite,publishedareportonTuesdayindicatingthattheaveragesalaryofChinesewomenonlyaccountsfor77percentofthatoftheirmalecolleagues.

AreportongendergapreleasedbytheWorldEconomicForumin2016showedthatChinaranked99thamong144countries.China'ssexratioatbirthranksatthebottomofthelist.

(GLOBAL TIMES)