Beijing Women's Federation

The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) will continuously implement a special campaign in 2023 to provide disadvantaged women with judicial assistance in the handling of their cases.

The two authorities announced the decision in a recent circular in a move to study and implement the guiding principles of the 20^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and act on the newly revised Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, which came into effect on January 1, 2023. The campaign is intended to help women and their families solve their immediate and pressing problems, and enhance their sense of fulfillment, happiness and safety.

During the special campaign unveiled in March 2022, the procuratorial organs and women's federations at all levels worked closely and made noticeable progress in the protection of the rights and interests of women in the hearing of their cases.

The circular said that the newly revised law provides the work on women-oriented judicial assistance with stronger legal support and makes higher requirements. Procuratorial departments and women's federations should extend judicial aid to several key groups of women, which include those from rural areas who are at risk of falling back into poverty, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and other crimes being eligible for extra judicial assistance. Recipients of judicial assistance also include women whose families have lost their main income because of the threat of criminal activities, women with serious illness or disabilities, elderly women who have no support, and women facing difficulties due to civil infringement cases, including sexual discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace, or suing for divorce as a result of domestic violence.

The circular stressed the collection and report of clues relating to judicial assistance toward women. Procuratorial departments should pay special attention to relevant clues from online public complaint platforms and the hotline 12309, promptly take action to assist women in need in the application of judicial aid when they are found to have met the criteria, and explore the utilization of digital technologies in the screening of potential clues. Meanwhile, women's federations should review their handling of public complaints and the progress of the assistance to women and other underprivileged groups in 2022, in order to identify candidate clues and hand them over procuratorial agencies.

The circular also called for the establishment of a long-term mechanism for cooperation between procuratorial organs and women's federations. The two departments should strengthen the sharing of the progress of the special campaign and cases involving assistance to women. For those where the cooperative mechanism is already in place, the two organs should make their clue transferring and diverse aid coordination mechanisms regular and institutionalized, improve supporting measures and help target women to fully benefit from relevant channels.