China

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Population: 1,330,141,295
Capital: Beijing
Language: Standard Chinese or Mandarin
Religion: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%,
Muslim 1%-2%--note: officially atheist
Life Expectancy: 74.51 years
GDP per Capita: $7,400


• 30% say they have experienced physical abuse by a male partner or intimate.
• Over 75% of married women are using “modern” contraception; China has one of the highest percentages of the world.
• Infant mortality rate is higher for girls then boys and there is widespread use of prenatal sex selection techniques and selective abortions of female fetuses.
• Has one of the highest death rates for women with breast cancer at 704 women deaths per week.
• China is one of the few counties to have over 55% of their national athletic Olympic team members as female.
• China is a source and destination country for sex trafficking.
• In 1996 China’s first women’s shelter was opened.



“When a son is born,
Let him sleep on the bed,
Clothe him with fine clothes,
And give him jade to play with.
How lordly his cry is!
May he grow up to wear crimson
And be the lord of the clan and the tribe.

When a daughter is born,
Let her sleep on the ground,
Wrap her in common wrappings,
And give her broken tiles for playthings.
May she have no faults, no merits of her own,
May she well attend to food and wine,
And bring no discredit to her parents.


Book of Songs (800 – 600 B.C.) The Arthur Waley Estate, Arthur Waley. First published in 1937. The Book of Songs is a collection of ancient Chinese songs, dating from 800 to 600 B.C. (731-732 Tienfenbrun)



--"A tradition of infanticide and abandonment, especially of females, existed in China before the foundation of the People's Republic in 1949," note Zeng et al.. ("Causes and Implications," p. 294.) According to Ansley J. Coale and Judith Banister, "A missionary (and naturalist) observer in [China in] the late nineteenth century interviewed 40 women over age 50 who reported having borne 183 sons and 175 daughters, of whom 126 sons but only 53 daughters survived to age 10; by their account, the women had destroyed 78 of their daughters." (Coale and Banister, "Five Decades of Missing Females in China," Demography, 31: 3 [August 1994], p. 472.)….want to read more go to this website.



--“Trafficking of women in China is a serious human rights violation. Domestic Trafficking is “the most significant problem in China,” and an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 victims are trafficked internally each year. From 1991 to 1996 police freed 88,000 kidnapped women and arrested 143,000 people for engaging in slave trade. From 2001 to 2003, China’s police freed more than 42,000 kidnapped women and children. How many more women in China today remain enslaved in brothels and forced marriages is difficult to determine because of the unsavory nature of the crime and the lack of transparency in China” (735 Tienfenbrun)




Wow reading these facts and statistics on the status of women in China and what they have been through...its crazy. Once again I am fortunate enough to have someone I know, this time not a sister but a friend travel to the unique country of China for some 3 months last year, so naturally I went straight to her, asking if there was anything she could tell me about women in China.  The first thing she said was… “It’s complicated.” And isn’t everything just always so complicated? Wouldn’t it be nice if for once things just were….not complicated? But then again if it was not complicated, this blog probably wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.


Anyway what my friend told me in the least complicated way possible is this. 
Women were seen as unequal to men before the revolution, women did not have a choice in whom to marry, they married whoever their families told them to marry, family honor was extremely important. Technically speaking with the revolution women became ‘equal’ to men. Some believe that this made women ‘lose there femininity.’ This 'equality' was mostly implemented in the big cities. Women in the rural areas continued to have unequal opportunities. Today, many rural women are forced to work in ‘sex shop’s’ as a source of income for their families. Their families, mostly the fathers, brothers or husbands will send the women to the cities with the idea they are going to be working in a hair salon or massage place, typically that is not the case. The worst part is that generally the families know exactly what they are getting their daughters or wives in to. Nonetheless the women are expected to send the money back home to the family. My friend actually had the opportunity to meet many women who worked extremely hard only to have the money they made be blown away by the men, they worked regardless.


Another aspect is that a lot of women feel pressure from their families to look good. A lot of ladies have eating disorders, there is a lot of competition to get a good man and they have ‘different’ ideas of what ladies should look like (like bleaching their skin so they can be whiter). I find that interesting because here in Canada women are doing the opposite, tanning their skin just to be darker, fully aware of the risk of skin cancer and other problems. It is interesting to look at the motives though. Many Chinese women feel largely pressured to do this to their skin because of their families expectations, here in Canada I think women are feeling pressure not so much from their family but from the media and from friends…its interesting to compare the two.


One last point, my friend, had a really neat opportunity to work with a cool organization called “Starfish Project.” It is basically a women’s shelter meant to help exploited women in China. Read this,


“In 2006 a small group of friends began to reach out to the ones who live in our city. We began going into the the streets to visit the girls in the shops. Week after week we continue spending time chatting with them, taking them out for coffee, throwing birthday parties, and even giving English lessons. We have seen their doubts diminish and friendship begin to grow in its place. Over time, some of the girls have come to trust us enough to leave their old life and come into our shelter. Our shelter is not meant to be a permanent residence. Our desire is to see the girls transformed through a loving community. The women in our shelter receive regular counseling where they begin to heal from their past hurts. We provide for them work as alternative means of support, medical checks and consultation, as well as vocational classes to prepare them for the future.”


I think one of the coolest parts about this is the work that this organization provides for these women…"Starfish Project jewelry is hand-crafted by women who have come out of exploitation and abuse. When you purchase Starfish jewelry, you are helping to provide income, education and support for the women in our shelter."

So as the activist part of this week I have decided to purchase some jewelry myself. I’ve ordered the earrings that you see on the right! What do you think? ….Would like to get some too...well you can! They have a huge variety of things you can buy, its really beautiful stuff either for yourself or someone you love! Check out the website yourself here. I’d love to know if you find something you like, let me know! Its a cool and safe way to directly support the women of China!!

 

Thanks for reading!