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Women and gender
ChinaPolitics

Will China’s updated women’s rights law actually help women?

  • Legal changes to better protect women in China will work well in theory, not so well in reality, say observers
  • Amendments stir concerns the law is less about independence, more about traditional roles

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Experts are questioning if legal revisions intended to better protect women in China will be effective in practice. Photo: AP
Stella Chen

Changes to a decades-old women’s protection law in China have introduced greater clarity on what constitutes sexual harassment in workplaces and schools, but experts say the revised law still lacks the teeth it needs to be effective.

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China’s top legislative body on Sunday passed amendments to the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, according to a statement from the National People’s Congress. The revised law will take effect in January.

While the original version already banned sexual harassment against women, the new amendments further clarify definitions of sexual harassment.

The updated law explicitly forbids sexually harassing a woman against her will by means of words, texts, images or physical acts. It also requires that authorities who receive reports of harassment must process the cases promptly and provide a formal written response to the complainant.

The changes come as discussion of sexual harassment in China expands. In August, a Beijing court dismissed a landmark #MeToo case filed by Zhou Xiaoxuan against a well-known CCTV host for allegedly sexually harassing her when she was an intern at the broadcaster in 2014.
Zhou Xiaoxuan, who had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against a Chinese TV host, hoped her case would encourage other victims of gender violence in a system with few options to pursue complaints. Photo: AP
Zhou Xiaoxuan, who had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against a Chinese TV host, hoped her case would encourage other victims of gender violence in a system with few options to pursue complaints. Photo: AP

Another high-profile lawsuit, which was filed in the United States, centred on Chinese tech billionaire Richard Liu Qiangdong. Last month Liu reached a settlement in a civil trial with a woman named Liu Jingyao, who alleged he raped her after a dinner with him and other guests in Minneapolis in 2018.

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