Всекитайская федерация женщин: история и современность

Women's organization in China

The All China Women's Federation (ACWF) is a women's rights people's organization established in China on 24 March 1949. It was originally called the All China Democratic Women's Foundation, and was renamed the All China Women's Federation in 1957. It has acted as the official leader of the women's movement in China since its founding. It is responsible for promoting government policies on women, and protecting women's rights within the government, while liberating them from traditional norms within society and involving them in social revolution with the aim to promote their overall status and welfare in Chinese society. As a united political community, women in the ACWF achieved political momentum, power among the male elite, and required representation.

The early women's movement in China focused on eradicating the assumption that women were inferior to men. The Chinese women's movement gained a new momentum with the Second Sino Japanese War (1937–1945). Women who had been dominant in the women's movement and the CCP were included in the federation's leadership. Cai Chang, a prominent leader in the women's movement since, an active CCP member, and a veteran of the Long March, was the first chair of the organization. The organization began as a federation of various regional women's groups with the dual goals of building a socialist China and promoting the status of women. The ACWF soon developed beyond its original mission of promoting gender equality, and it became a tool used by the party to mobilize women for economic, political and ideological motives. Women activists helped peasant women prepare to speak in public, including by roleplaying as landlords to help such women practice. Around 1957, the ACWF entered a new phase, dropping "Democratic" from its name, as the federation was formally incorporated in the party structure. It entered the administrative hierarchy of the state, and declared itself a mass organization. In the period prior to the Cultural Revolution, the ACWF was among organizations which hosted birth planning exhibitions to educate the public about contraception, abortion, IUDs, and sterilization procedures. In addition to this, the ACWF played an important role internationally for the CCP. but, while other federations were able to resume work in the early 1970s, he ACWF did not resume work on a national level until 1978. With these changes, the ACWF became less concerned with mobilizing grass roots organization, and focused on its role in setting the public discourse for the social and political issues of women. While the federation expanded in size, it became increasingly difficult to continue to reach all Chinese women through traditional channels.

The main action of the All China Women's Federation is funu gongzuo (women's work). The federation currently has seven functional departments to carry out this work: the Department for Children, the International Liaison Department, the Department for Women's Development, the Publicity Department, the Department for Women's Rights and Interests, the Human Resources Development Department and the General Office. The ACWF maintains a strong connection to the CCP through the women's committees in the government. These committees cover topics ranging from systems of education, science, arts and medicine. Among other research, since 1990 the ACWF conducts the national survey on women's status.

Though the All China Women's Federation claims itself as an NGO, its longstanding relationship with the CCP means that the party still has interests in the federation and its members.

The All China Women's Federation is run from the national level with the provincial, municipal, county, district and village levels below it.