Microcosm Special Edition A - Women’s Rights Around the World (English)

China Government in response to XuZhou Chained women: Social media censorship, boom, you never existed.

As social media is rooted in everyone's life, I found an easier way in accessing information and scaling up my voice. Needless to do any research, just a scroll on the phone, news around the world would be displayed in front of me, and social media may carry any voice to my household.

Or do they actually?

In January 2022, a video recording of a woman chained in a doorless room went viral on all social platforms. In that video, the woman was tethered by an iron chain around her neck and treated with rotten food while her husband proudly bragged about their eight children, all of whom the woman gave birth to under severe mental conditions. As soon as the video was released, it gained millions and billions of viewers –some worried about their loved ones, some cried for government attention. Several journalists and volunteers went to Xuzhou to find out the truth behind the whole scandal.

We naively anticipated that the power exerted by millions would make a difference.

But the government, again, disappointed its citizens. The CPC Fengxian County Committee sent out an official document on January 28th explaining that the woman was “controlled” by the family because she has mental illnesses and often commits violent acts against her children. Later, A volunteer named WuYi, trying to testify to the authenticity of the official explanation, went to Xuzhou but was arrested and held in detention at the local police office. However, this further encouraged the netizens to become detectives. A few days later, the chained woman matched a woman from Sichuan who was part of the missing population, and this finding led to more suspicions that the woman is a victim of human trafficking.

Now social media censorship became a huge problem in calling for justice for women suffering human trafficking in China. People all over China expressed their anger toward the authorities: lawyers, artists, writers, and academics raised their voices through online articles, live stream videos, and art works.

Frustratingly, their works weren’t able to last long due to censorship. Countless netizens have their account suspended after mentioning related content. Official accounts fell into silence after the local government launched an investigation, which later proved to be ineffective whatsoever. The measures from authorities led to more anger and disappointment. At the same time, key topic phrases “XuZhou chained women” and “Chained mother of eight” were censored along with 6 billion views, and posts including the key words were being taken down without notice.

As the authorities wanted, within a month the view dropped by more than 200 million. No following official announcements were made. The XuZhou Chained women were left silent in a mental hospital.

The XuZhou Chained women ring us an alarm about women trafficking in China; furthermore, it once again reiterates the effect social media censorship has on promoting social changes. Even though voices on social media are not powerful enough to actually affect the authorities or institutions, it is still every citizen's right to be aware of the injustice surrounding them. The authorities shouldn’t be blindfolding citizens, there needs to be a free place for citizens to promote social justice when the government is not doing the job. As for us citizens, keep questioning.

Writing: Jenny Chen Layout: Elisa Yang Illustration: Yuki Icons: from Canva

WhyAfghanistanisNota GoodPlacetoLiveforWomen

Among all the countries in the world, Afghanistan is considered one of the most dangerous places for women to live in. Approximately 99% of the Afghan population are Muslims, thus the women are forced to cover their faces in public with the “hijab”[a].(Cultural Atlas) A senior member of the Taliban, Shir Mohammad claims in a conference in Kabul that “For all dignified Afghan women wearing hijab is necessary and the best hijab is chadori(the burqa), which is part of our tradition and is respectful, those women who are not too old or young must cover their face, except the eyes.” [b] (The Guardian)

The Taliban is seeking international recognition[c]. “If they w[d]ant international acceptance, they must live up to their obligations and commitments, particularly on the rights of women and girls.” As the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, it imposed several restrictions on women’s basic rights. Women were barred from almost all work and education. The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a new report that confirms Afghanistan about basic human rights since the Taliban takeover in August last year, including “extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and violation of fundamental freedoms” (UN).

The Taliban also prohibited Afghanistan women from protesting, which led to the hiding of many high profile women, including but not limited to former activists, journalists, and security force members. The ruling method of the Taliban triggered women to have more serious concerns. As the former minister for women’s affairs said: “Women are even more urgently concerned about their mobility, education, and health, participation, security, and safety” (The Guardian).

Khadija is an Afghanistan woman who suffered from domestic abuse. “Women never have any choices”, she says in the hospital. “We’re all handcuffed in this country”. Khadija’s husband has been arrested on charges of domestic violence, but this is extremely unusual in Afghanistan as abuses against women are rarely criminalized. Still, life hasn’t been better when Khadija tried to move on with her own life. Her husband’s parents won’t let her see her son unless she tells the police that she lied. There may be millions and millions of Khadija in Afghanistan her story only highlights the brutal situation that countless Afghan women are living. (Time)

How can we face the dead bodies, the crying faces, the anger roaring from these suffering women if the International community continues ignoring the severity of the humanitarian and women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan?

How could we ever build a safe zone and achieve the goal of peace and love if even the population of countries without the wars happening are suffering and appealing for social help?[e]

[a]is wearing a hijab a Muslim tradition? What is the connection between the 99% Muslims and women being forced to wear hijab?

[b]I think here you can explain more why wearing hijab makes it dangerous for women to live in Afghanistan If you are trying to say that wearing hijab is compulsory, perhaps elaborate with a few sentences instead of just quoting

[c]maybe a smoother transition from hijab to Taliban?

[d]who said this?

[e]the phrasing here is a bit confusing. can you rephrase this?

“Afghanistan: Report Highlights Multiple Human Rights Violations and Abuses

under Taliban | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1122892#:~:text=A%20new%20report%20fr om%20the,and%20detentions%2C%20and%20violations%20of.

Pier “Afghan Culture ” Cultural Atlas, https://culturalatlas sbs com au/afghan culture/afghan culture religion

Bohn, Lauren. “Why Afghanistan Is Still the Worst Place to Be a Woman.” Time, Time, 8 Dec. 2018, https://time.com/5472411/afghanistan women justice war/. https://cn.bing.com/images/search?

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R e f e r e n c e s :

O M E N ' S R IG H T S IN NORWAY

Norway, A Leading Example of Gender Equity

Norway, a northernmost Scandinavian country, is one of the world’s most developed countries with the highest level of gender equality. The Norwegian Gender Equality Act, which was first passed in 2002, sought to advance equality and lessen prejudice in Norway. The comprehensive law addressed various forms of discrimination present in contemporary societies.

IN NORWAY

They consist of discrimination on the basis of age, gender, pregnancy, caregiving obligations, race, religion, belief, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other important qualities of an individual.

In 2016, it was the first country in the world to have a dedicated Gender Equality Ombud, which gives you an idea of the forward thinking nature of the country’s equality attitude and forward thinking direction. Twelve years later, in 2018, the Equality and Anti Discrimination Act was introduced. It replaced the four previous equality acts and probably won’t be the last time Norway modifies its gender and anti discrimination legislation.

E Q U I T Y

Among all the signs of progress in Scandinavian welfare states, the legislative and social supporting system for women is the most distinguished accomplishment. To further understand how this plays out in Norwegian society, I talked to one of my mentors in Norway. His name is Adam and he’s a Sociology professor at the University of Oslo.

He has lived in Oslo with his wife and daughter for several years after leaving the U.S.He obtained his Norwegian citizenship in early 2020, and we came across him shortly after that in a summer program in which our academic theme is “Norwegian Welfare State”.

I remembered that I used to be confused about why his English sounded so authentically American, and it soon became clear that he has lived in the U.S. for nearly his whole life before moving to Europe. I’m curious about what makes up his mind and his answers impressed me to this day.

“After I got married, my wife and I began to look at an ideal place for us to start a family together. At that moment, I learned that America, though a top developed country, has many disadvantages in terms of supporting women and their well being, especially during and after giving birth.” Adam speaks to me.

“To be honest, I didn’t know much about the huge disparity and social inequality between paternal and maternal leave. But when I’m ready to become a dad, I need to consider these things seriously. America is not an ideal place to give birth and raise a kid the way that we wanted, so we left here and moved to Northern Europe, where I got my current job as a professor at UiO. Since then, we’ve been here for seven years, and we love it.”

It’s not news that America hasn’t established a more inclusive and desirable parental leave system that takes care of women in the long term. Scandinavian countries, on the other hand, have been the role model in building the paternal leave system that suits the needs of current society.

According to the statistics, the parental benefit period is 49 weeks (15 weeks are reserved for each parent) with 100% coverage or 59 weeks (19 weeks are reserved for each parent) with 80% coverage in Norway. It’s worth mentioning that same sex parents share the same rights and benefits as all other parents.

“My wife and I shared the responsibilities of taking care of our newborn very well. We have almost the same amount of parental leave as we all took months of paid leave during the pandemic. For me, taking care of my baby is not a virtue, but a duty. I really enjoy spending time with my daughter in the first year of her life.” Adam says with a smile.

I fully understand and reco sacrificing more, physically, compared to their husbands. Building a more inclusive and equal parental leave system is only a small step toward achieving gender equality as a whole, but it can be a huge step for every family, just like Adam’s. Gender equity s people of any gender equali compensation and social su

Norway, as a leading example of gender equity in parental leave, teaches all of us something today. This is what all nations in the world should be looking up to from now on.

WomenRightsinDifferentcountries

Women's Rightsin Spain

Since 1109 A.D., Spanish women have been fighting for equal rights for themselves. For more than a thousand years, Spanish women have never given up on this fight to defend their basic rights. Until now there has been significant progress, and the status of women has been greatly enhanced.

Uuaca de León was born in 1080 AD and died on March 8, 1126. She was known to the world as the Bold (Spanish: la Temeraria). In May 1108, Uuaca's half brother died unexpectedly in the battle, leaving Uuaca as the sole legitimate heir of their father. In July of the same year, Uuaca's father died of an illness,

and she succeeded him as the first queen in the history of all of Europe. The day after her father's funeral, her new position was officially announced in the cathedral of León, where the diplomats called her "Queen of all Spain" . The diploma was witnessed by several royal dignitaries and 12 bishops. This proved that she was recognized as the legitimate monarch of the kingdom. But the identity of the female monarch was not convincing to the people at that time, and they believed that Uuaca would not be able to rule

and defend the kingdom from the Almoravid dynasty.

Therefore, Uuaca married Alfonso I in 1109, less than a year after her accession. She was forced to give her husband all the lands she had inherited. But she demanded that Alfonso should respect his wife as "a good husband". Moreover, he could not ask for the annulment of their marriage on the grounds of their kinship or excommunication. However, the truth was that Alfonso was very incapable of respecting women, including his wife. Their marriage was miserable, and Alfonso often beat and abused Uuaca. She began to resist and wanted to get rid of her husband, and on June 13, 1110, Uuaca, who called herself "Queen of all Spain," asked to leave Alfonso. Although Uuaca's life was marked by misfortune, she was the first female Spanish monarch, and her series of women's consciousnesses beyond her time laid a good

foundation for the path of Spanish women to fight for their rights.

The first time Spanish women were granted the right to vote in history was on November 19, 1933. These women could only get the chance to vote once more in 1936. Women had the right to vote in name, but in fact, the discrimination and oppression of women in society led to their exclusion from voting to a large extent. （Basically, only widows can vote on behalf of their deceased husbands) In 1981, the Spanish Civil Code again established that men and women were equal in marriage and women had the right to ask their husbands for a divorce.

According to the Global Gender Gap 2020 report, Spain has become one of the most perfect countries in terms of gender parity, ranking eighth in the world (79.5%). Back in 2018, Spain became the most femaledominated government in the

world. "65% of women ministers in Pedro Sánchez's cabinet. The socialist acting prime minister appointed 11 of the 17 female ministers when he came to power in June 2018." (Valdivia, n.d.)The percentage of women in Congress is 47.4 percent, which indicates that 166 of the 375 deputies are women. On a political level, Spain leads the world in women's rights.

However, the gender pay gap still exists. According to the Global Gender Gap Report, the gender income gap in Spain is 35.7 percent. "According to Eurostat, in 2017, women earned 15.1 percent less per hour in total than men." (Valdivia, n.d.)In 2019, the Spanish government raised the minimum wage to 900 euros per month, a policy that mainly benefits women. According to government statistics, about 70 percent of minimum wage recipients identify as women.

In addition, Spain made changes in parental co-parental leave, a decree that makes fathers more involved in the family. For children born in 2021, fathers will be allowed up to 16 weeks of parental leave.

In Spanish society today, there are still many inequalities for women, such as sexual harassment in the workplace and the fact that women have a harder time entering STEM fields than men. Spanish women are fighting and the government is gradually making changes for the better. The overall trend of women's rights in Spain is good and far better than in other countries in the world.