Activity 1 - How is gender equality codified?

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Activity Tasks

1. Identify - Using this website, identify where gender equality (women’s rights) is codified in international law. Make notes of the specific articles which codify women’s rights in the international framework. 
2. Examine - Study the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). China is a state party to CEDAW, having signed and ratified the treaty in 1980. Locate answers to the following:
   1. Study Parts 1-4 of CEDAW. What obligations does it place on state parties in regards to women’s rights?
   2. Study Part 5 of CEDAW. What monitoring powers does the CEDAW Committee have? 
   3. According to CEDAW, who or what has power of promotion and enforcement in regards to women’s rights?
3. Discuss - What additional powers of monitoring and enforcement does the Optional Protocol on CEDAW from 2000 introduce? Why do you think China has not signed this optional protocol?

Activity 2 - What progress has China made?

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Activity Tasks

1. ​Identify - Identify where gender equality is codified in China’s national laws. Use the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (1982) and the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women (1992) to identify the specific rights and legal protections that women have.
2. Research - “Women hold up half the sky” is a famous slogan from Mao’s China, implying that gender equality is a key social goal in China. But is this true? Using the following sources, complete this worksheet by researching the progress modern China has made towards enforcing gender equality:
   1. CSIS - Do Women in China Face Greater Inequality than Women Elsewhere?
   2. SCMP - Gender equality from birth to politics in China has far to go: report  
   3. ILO - China promotes gender equality at work 
   4. CGTN - 25 years of gender equality in China 
   5. CGTN - Is China determined to achieve gender equality? - Chinadaily.com.cn 
   6. BBC - Chinese vlogger dies after 'set on fire by ex during live stream' 
   7. AL Jazeera - China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution 
   8. China Daily - Progress, challenges in gender equality in China - Opinion 
   9. Reuters - U.N. chief urges equality fight, U.S. slams China for 'murder' of baby girls 
   10. New York Times - The Challenge of Reporting on Women in China, Where Men Control the Narrative
   11. UN OHCHR - Visit to China 
   12. CEDAW Committee - 7th & 8th Periodic Report by China to CEDAW and Committee’s Reply
3. Discuss - What progress has China made in regards to realising gender equality? Do violations of international human rights still occur in regards to gender equality?

Activity 3 - Has equality been achieved?

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Activity Tasks

1. Write - “Women hold up half the sky in China - To what extent do you agree with this statement in regards to gender equality in modern China?” 
2. 3-2-1 Bridge - What progress has China made in realising gender equality? Review your research and write down 3 thoughts/ideas, 2 questions, and 1 metaphor that represent your current thinking.
3. Reflect - Examine the following SCMP article. What does it reveal about gender equality in modern China?

Further Reading

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OBLIGATORY READING

1. SCMP Reporter. (2019, October 7). What is gender equality? A basic human right explained, and where inequality is most strongly felt. South China Morning Post.  

RECOMMENDED READING

1. Heywood, A. (2011), Global Politics, pp. 412-421

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

1. Bjorn Andersson. (2020, March 23). There can be no human rights without gender equality. World Economic Forum.

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