Tibet - Women Enjoying Higher Social Status

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Chinese Women's Research Network

http://en.wsic.ac.cn/academicnews/4793.htm

TIBET - WOMEN ENJOYING HIGHER SOCIAL STATUS THAN BEFORE

Three hundred and fifteen women representatives attend the congress in the region’s capital of Lhasa on July 15, 2013. Chinanews

July 16, 2013 - According to information released at the Ninth Tibetan Women's Congress, women in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region are enjoying higher social status than before.

Statistics show that the number of female civil servants in the region has reached 19,000, accounting for 34.49 percent of the total civil servants there and demonstrating Tibet’s achievements in women's work.

Three hundred and fifteen women representatives attended the congress in the region’s capital of Lhasa on July 15, 2013. The congress reported that Tibetan women have made great progress in politics, social status, employment and other fields.

The proportion of women officials, deputies to People's Congress and members of the committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has increased in the past five years. Statistics show that 23 percent of deputies to the Tibet People's Congress and 21 percent of members of the Tibet Committee of the CPPCC are women.

In addition, there are 707,000 women employees in Tibet, accounting for 37.1 percent of the total. Tibetan women have also been provided with training in various fields such as traditional dyeing, leather making, silverware manufacturing, stone carving and other folk arts, helping them to become more employable.

In the past, according to the old Tibetan laws, women were not allowed to participate in political or military affairs. Prior to its peaceful liberation, women had low social status and no legal rights in politics and economics in Tibet.

Since the region's peaceful liberation in the 1950s, Tibet has established systems to protect women's rights and to promote gender equality. Now, Tibetan women enjoy equal rights as men in politics, economics and culture.