WUNRN
11th National Women's Congress Opens in Beijings October 28, 2013 |
CHINA - 11th NATIONAL CONGRESS OF
WOMEN PROMOTES GENDER EQUALITY AWARENESS
Editor:Zhao Liangfeng - October 29, 2013
The
protection of women's rights and interests can never be overestimated despite
the progress that has been made.
This progress was outlined at the opening of the 11th National Congress of
Women on Monday. In terms of women's participation in political life, the
proportion of women among deputies to the 18th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China and the 12th National People's Congress has increased
2.9 and 2.07 percentage points compared with five years ago. Their proportion
among members of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference has risen 0.18 percentage points. Women account for 51
percent of all college students and 48 percent of all graduates in the
mainland.
However, gender discrimination still exists in a wide range of areas, and so do
violations of women's rights and interests.
Such discrimination is particularly conspicuous among employers. Male
applicants often have a better chance of being hired than their female
counterparts even when the latters' credentials are better than the former. The
same is true for promotion in many companies.
There are laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination against women, but
it is a matter of public awareness, the awareness of the equal rights and
interests of women.
With such awareness, decision-makers need never think whether an applicant is a
women or not, but rather take into consideration the credentials and competence
of the applicant when it comes to promoting or recruiting an employee.
With such awareness, a decision-maker will naturally give enough thought to
whether the rights and interests of women are being infringed upon when hiring
or promoting them.
Oftentimes, many hire a less qualified male applicant rather than a female
applicant, because they think female employees will tend to spend more time on
babies and families.
How women's social status is and how their rights and interests are protected
is a benchmark of a country's social progress. When women's rights and interests
are well protected and they have the social status they are entitled to, they
will be able to develop a sense of independence when it comes to family life
and their careers, and they will make more contributions to society.
The current women's national congress should stimulate such awareness.