China's parliament's standing committee, the National People's Congress, is said to be working on a bill to fight sexual harassment and gender discrimination. The Bill on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests will also provide a clearer definition of inappropriate behavior. According to the bill, a person is said to have violated the law if he has verbally abused, exhibited inappropriate or unnecessary bodily behavior, shows explicit sexual images, or luring victims to have sex. According to a CCTV report cited by Reuters, under the bill, workers will not be allowed to ask women for job applications if they are married or pregnant, or pregnancy tests. CCTV is China's state media, under the publications department. . This media is a channel for releasing information related to the country and the communist party. However, the department did not respond when asked to comment on the bill. It is not yet clear when the law will be passed. Discussions are expected to continue until at least Friday. The bill also prohibits companies from restricting female staff from marrying or having children, or if they explicitly prioritize male candidates over female candidates. The move comes amid a declining working age population in China and the insistence of Beijing activists calling for gender equality. The World Economic Forum, China, ranks 107th out of 153 countries on global gender equality. In that country, men dominate in the political and business sectors. Meanwhile, women make up only a quarter of the total number of parliaments in China. In the Politburo of the Communist Party, there is only one woman out of 25 members.
The issue of sexual harassment was widely discussed after a student in Beijing publicly accused his professor of sexual harassment. The action echoed China's #MeToo movement in 2018. The news then spread to NGOs, media and other industries. , Peng Shuai, admitted that he was forced to have sex with the former deputy prime minister of China, Zhang Gaoli. The international community then urged China to conduct a thorough investigation.
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