Ningxia releases first provincial regulation on protecting women's rights, interests

Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region released a regulation on the protection of women's rights and interests on Sept 27.

Adopted at the 15th session of the 12th People's Congress of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, the regulation is the region's first provincial document that aims to protect women's rights and interests in an all-round way. It will take effect on Nov 1.

One of the highlights of the document is that parents whose children are aged 3 and under are encouraged to have a 10-day parental leave each year.

Aimed to encourage fathers and mothers to raise their children together and help develop good family culture, it is a pioneering initiative in the country.

The document specifies the constituent elements of sexual harassment and the main anti-sexual harassment mechanisms in detail and urges educational institutions to play a role in ensuring girls' safety.

The regulation also clarifies that women have the right to know about and take part in disposition of the couples' community property and stipulates the responsibilities of property registration organizations to help solve the problem of division of property and debt between couples.

The regulation encourages social resources and professionals to be involved in marriage and family issues, including mediation of domestic contradictions and disputes and anti-domestic violence work. It requires local governments above the county level to purchase social services to provide institutional and stable guarantees and support. The Ningxia Women's Federation has achieved good results in integrating judicial, public security and civil affairs departments as well as social resources into the work of marriage and family issues in the past few years.

The document stipulates that the individual rights and interests of rural women should be clearly reflected in the certification of residential land rights and their identification as members of collective economic organizations should also be recorded.

It also urges governments at all levels to curb the high cost of betrothal gifts and girls' early marriage in the mountainous areas in southern Ningxia.

It stresses gender equality at work and bans "hidden gender discrimination" against women in the job market.

Harsher punishment for gender discrimination will be carried out to better protect women's rights and interests, the document states.