Rights of Women and Poor Families in China

Over 13 million people born second and third in the family in the last 40 years are living without any rights in China.

These people have no rights, they do not have documents. They have not the right to go to school, consult a doctor, can not marry. They have no documents, so they cannot buy a ticket for a train or a plane, enroll in a library (which is very important for them - many are eager to get self-education, at least learn how to read and write).

To get "hukou", which means registration at the place of residence, residence permit, an extremely important thing in China - parents of the "second and third" must pay an incredible amount to the municipalities.

"Protecting the rights of children" not only conforms to the core spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights treaties, but also touches the priority area of the Cypriot Child Development Program (2011-2020). Thus, it helps to protect the rights of minors and strengthen the criminal legal protection of their rights and interests.

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Taking into account the weak position of the minor and the criminal law valve of protecting their rights and interests, this document will assess the latest trends in the protection of criminal law regarding the rights and interests of minors from the legislative level in China. It is imperative to examine the real gap in the protection of minors between China and international conventions, and even more to begin a new way to fully complete the protection of criminal law regarding the rights and interests of minors.

The amendment to the Criminal Law of China, adopted at the 19th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress at the beginning of this year, added some general provisions for the lenient punishment of juvenile delinquency. In the new Amendment, Article 6 excludes minors from recidivists, Article 11 provides that an internship is granted if the specified offender is under the age of 18, and Article 19 exempts them from the obligation to report their criminal convictions, all of which are important content of juvenile protection systems. This once again contributes to the development of connotations and expansion of the system for the protection of minors in our country and encourages the general provisions of the criminal law to gradually increase the scope and strength of the protection of minors in order to play their full role in protecting human rights and reducing the re-application.

In particular, Article 65 of the Criminal Code of China was revised in accordance with Article 6 of the new amendment, because if a criminal who is sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier punishment, commits another crime punishable by urgent imprisonment or heavier punishment within five years after serving a sentence or receiving a pardon, he is a recidivist and is subject to more severe punishment, with the exception of negligent crimes and crimes committed by a criminal under the age of 18 years old; That is, based on the initial provisions on recidivism, a person under the age of 18 years does not belong to the category of recidivism. In fact, those who committed a crime under the age of 18, namely the minor, are not a recidivist. In addition, article 11 of the new amendment also stipulates that release on parole may be granted to a criminal who is sentenced to criminal detention or a term of imprisonment of up to three years; and is granted if the specified offender is under the age of 18. This means that in relation to minors, the crime should be granted to juvenile offenders only if they meet the conditions for its use, namely, the effectiveness of probation should be strengthened.

Protecting the Rights of Women

The social status of women in China (and they make up almost half of the country's population) has traditionally been low. Enhancing their role in society, which presupposes the improvement of social status, involvement in the solution of national tasks, ensuring equality with men, is one of the important directions of state social policy today.

The PRC Constitution formally granted women equal rights with men in all areas of political, economic, cultural, social and family life. Legislation was adopted protecting their rights and interests: laws on marriage, on inheritance of property, on guarantees of the rights and interests of women, on protecting the health of mother and child, resolutions on the protection of women's labor, on strict punishment of criminals involved in the abduction and sale of women and children on the prohibition of prostitution, as well as the relevant articles in the Criminal Code, the General Provisions of the Civil Law of the PRC, the Civil Procedure Code and other regulatory documents.

In 1980, China signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; in 1990 ratified the ILO Convention on Equal Pay for the Equal Work of Men and Women.

Over the years of reform, the share of women in the total number of employed has increased significantly. The sectoral structure of employment has also changed. Women today make up more than 50% of workers in the social sphere, health care, sports, and over 45% of those employed in trade, services, consulting, almost a third of the total number of scientific and technical workers in the country, 60% of the rural workforce (80% of China's total population lives in villages ), about half working in volost-township enterprises.

In China, women highly qualified personnel have been trained before. In October 1999, the 50th anniversary of a unique specialized school was celebrated, in which more than 30 thousand women received an education. The same preparation is carried out by a number of educational institutions in Beijing. However, they are not able to fundamentally solve the problem of increasing the level of education of Chinese women.

Nevertheless, some positive shifts occur. In some cities (mostly large), the proportion of girls among university students is close to 30%. Much is being done to eliminate female illiteracy. However, still more than 70% of illiterate people in the country are women. In rural areas, because of the difficult financial situation of families, girls often have to work instead of school. (In the late 1980s, out of 2.7 million children aged 7-11 years who did not attend primary school, 83% were girls.) In recent years, the situation has improved: now 98.6% of girls of school age study (though it is not known how many of them end it).

A special role is given to women in creating a new type of family and fertility planning. Late marriage, late childbirth, control over the number and "quality" of nascent families, small families, the same attitude towards the birth of children of both sexes - this is the model of family relations that the state promotes. The law on maternal and child health, adopted in 1994, tightened the requirements for marrying and childbearing: it obliges young people to present a certificate of special medical examination, gives health workers the right to postpone marriage for medical reasons. If a hereditary disease is discovered during the pre-marital medical examination of the married, they are prohibited from having children or offered sterilization.

"The PRC Law on Guarantees of the Rights and Interests of Women" is the first fundamental law of China, the subject of which are women, and the main content of which is the comprehensive protection of the legitimate rights and interests of women. This law has been in effect for 10 years. More recently, the All-China Women's Federation conducted a sample survey across the country regarding the status of implementation of this law. The results of the survey showed that citizens generally have a broad knowledge of women's rights and equality between the sexes and that Chinese women are mostly protected by legal rights.

As the survey shows, more than 85 percent of those surveyed know that China has adopted a special law to protect women; over 90 percent of women surveyed believed that their rights and interests were not violated; about two-thirds of the women surveyed believe that the rights and interests of women are relatively well or even very well guaranteed. Approximately 80% of those in charge of the relevant authorities agree that the number of women in senior government work should be at least 30%.

Protecting the Rights of Poor Families

The concentration of poverty in China can be divided into two categories: natural-climatic and socio-economic. The problems of the first - are in the features of the relief and climate. A significant proportion of the poor live in mountain ranges with difficult accessibility.

The list of the fight against poverty looks like this:

1. The PRC is the party leadership. According to the accepted doctrine, each party worker must take care of the three to five poor families. At the same time, there is social support from the leading cadres.

2. Industrial production as an aid to the poor. Instead of social benefits, the state allocates the following: seedlings, seeds, small loan loans, information and technology services, bonuses, grants. The population is trained in plant growing, raising livestock and developing the tourism industry. Special attention is paid to financial literacy and market risks.

3. The poor people are taught to be mobile and ready to move to another region. Seminars and practical courses are held on the construction and reconstruction of abandoned industrial buildings, which may be more convenient for living (if conditions are more favorable).

4. Training for additional skills. Among the rural population, courses are held for further work on advanced technological equipment. Each family member has the right to master at least one applied profession.

5. Improving infrastructure. Every year, families in need are given 100,000 yuan to improve their living conditions. Thanks to these subsidies, poor Chinese can electrify a house and supply water to it if there are no such communications. Works are carried out with the assistance of the authorities.

6. The development of cooperatives in rural areas to help the poor. The poor can take part in the development of local industry trends with the help of preferential borrowed funds of the cooperative. For example, to organize a farm, repair shop or woodworking workshop.

7. Social guaranteed help. This section of support includes such forms of government interaction with the poor, such as medical care, education, housing and other, according to the political setting.

Hanna Ryder, Former Director, Policy and Partnership, United Nations Development Program in China

One of the most frequently cited statistical facts about China is probably the number of Chinese who have emerged from poverty over the past 35 years. Over 800 million people. This is a gigantic figure - and an extraordinary achievement.

According to Beijing's official statement "On the construction of a moderately prosperous society", the governing party will succeed in defeating poverty until 2020.

For reference. China - the world record holder in the field of poverty eradication over the past ten years. This statement was made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Munich at a security conference. He clarified that over the past 30 years, more than 700 million Chinese have ceased to be poor.

Until 2020, there is only a little time left, but the leadership of China is bursting with enthusiasm. "Maximum efforts should be made to carry out work to assist the poor, which is the most fierce of all battles", said the President of the People's Republic of China and the Secretary General of the CPC, Xi Jinping. According to his concept, at the present time poverty will not be a phenomenon. The society was named in 2020, Xi Jinping said in October.

Observers note that in China there is a significant gap between the super-rich minority and the country's population. In 2015, the number of dollar millionaires in the PRC grew by a million people and was about four million. Today they write about 3.62 million dollar millionaires in China. According to the so-called Gini coefficient, the coefficient of wealth and poverty should not exceed 0.4, while in China it is 0.474. One percent of Chinese rich at the time of 2012. This ratio has changed slightly since.