Beijing Women's Federation

Advancing women’s cause is integral to the Party’s and the state’s missions, and safeguarding women’s rights is a shared responsibility across society. On December 20, the Beijing Women’s Federation (BWF) and the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality jointly released Landmark Cases in Public Interest Litigation on Women’s Rights Protection. 

 

This press conference aligns with the guiding principles of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, reinforcing the legal framework for safeguarding the rights of women and children and, leveraging the prosecutors’ role in advancing public interest litigation, ensuring robust legal safeguards for their rights and comprehensive development. 

 

At the conference, representatives introduced the women’s federations’ and procuratorial organs’ efforts in using public interest litigation to protect women’s rights while addressing questions from journalists.

 

In recent years, women’s federations and procuratorial organs across Beijing have leveraged their respective strengths to foster close collaboration, streamline pathways for women to protect their rights, and forge synergy in safeguarding women’s rights. In 2024, the BWF and the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality established a cooperative mechanism to deepen their partnership, focusing on areas such as transferring case leads, improving case handling and resolution, enhancing conflict mediation, conducting issue-specific research, promoting preventive measures, and launching legal awareness campaigns.

 

Procuratorial organs have actively performed their duties by setting up a dedicated reception window at the 12309 service center and creating a dedicated column on their website to support women’s and children’s rights protection. They have also taken proactive measures to overcome challenges such as difficulties in identifying case leads, improving the effectiveness of women’s rights protection, and addressing issues at their root, ensuring the efficient resolution of each and every case.

 

At the same time, women’s federations have strengthened women’s rights protection at the source by implementing relevant mechanisms, ensuring the smooth operation of the 12338 hotline, online services, and petition channels, and facilitating the prevention and resolution of marriage and family conflicts. They have also actively responded to women’s needs, ensuring that protection efforts are routine, consistent, and deeply integrated into grassroots communities.

 

The collaboration between the legal supervision of procuratorial organs and the rights protection efforts of women’s federations has demonstrated synergy, exemplifying the power of combined efforts yielding greater results. This partnership has effectively advanced the implementation of laws and regulations, safeguarded women’s legal rights, and contributed to the sound governance of women’s affairs.

ince 2023, procuratorial organs in Beijing have prioritized addressing prominent issues related to violations of women’s personal dignity, labor and social security rights, and marriage and family rights. They have managed 68 administrative public interest litigation cases, issued 35 recommendations to administrative organs, and facilitated interdepartmental collaboration to achieve regulatory synergy, and ensured the effective enforcement of laws such as the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women and the Special Rules on the Labor Protection of Female Employees. 

 

The five landmark administrative public interest litigation cases released this time include: the People’s Procuratorate of Daxing District’s case addressing the protection of women’s health rights, the People’s Procuratorate of Shunyi District’s case addressing the protection of women’s social security rights, the People’s Procuratorate of Yanqing District’s case addressing discrimination against women, the People’s Procuratorate of Mentougou District’s case promoting standardized construction of baby care rooms, and the People’s Procuratorate of Chaoyang District’s case rectifying non-compliant operations at postpartum care centers.

 

These cases address diverse aspects of women’s rights, including health, maternity, equal employment opportunities, and social security. They demonstrate the progress achieved through public interest litigation by procuratorial organs, raising awareness of laws protecting women’s rights, guiding society to advance gender equality, and fostering a supportive environment for women’s comprehensive development.

 

Representatives from the BWF and the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality addressed the press conference, which was attended by over 50 participants, including deputies of the National People’s Congress, members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, volunteers from the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality, prosecutors, representatives from women’s federations, and members of the media.