All-Chinesische Frauenvereinigung

The All-China Women's Federation (Chinese:中华全国妇女联合会, pinyin: Zhōnghuá Quánguó Fuǹǚ Liánhéhuì), also known as the ACWF, is a women's rights organization established in China in March 1949. It was originally called the All-China Democratic Women's Foundation, and in 1957 it was renamed the All-China Women's Federation. It has acted as the official leader of the women’s movement in China since its founding, and is responsible for promoting government policies on women, and protecting women’s rights within the government.

History of the All China Women’s Federation

Pre-1949: Women’s Movement prior to the CCP and Predecessors

The early women’s movement in China focused on eradicating the assumption that women were inferior to men. The early reformers believed that women needed help to improve their own attitudes about themselves, since even the women themselves generally found themselves to be inferior to men.The CCP had already shown its interest in the women’s movements. During the 2nd National congress in 1922 the CCP issued a statement arguing for the end of Chinese traditions that repress women. The CCP also released a document ensuring equality under the law for both men and women, and guaranteeing equal pay for both genders during the 3rd National Congress. When the CCP entered the United Front with the GMD, the parties established a women’s department, but after the White Terror, the ideas about liberating Chinese women were only permitted within the soviets under CCP rule, while the GMD focused on more traditional Confucian views of women. The CCP’s time in the soviets also gave them the opportunity to practice organizing federations and governing, which would aid them in founding the ACWF later. . The Chinese women’s movement gained a new energy with the Second Sino-Japanese war that began in 1937. It sparked nationalist feelings within the women’s movement, who believed that women should be liberated to support the country through the invasion. The number of official women’s organization within the CCP at Yan’an grew during the invasion. An example of the nationalist tone within the women’s movement was visible In March of 1938 at the First Women’s Congress held by the Women’s Federation of Shan-Gan-Ning (a forerunner to the ACWF). The women in attendance stated the goal of the women’s movements should be to unite women, so they can work together to liberate China. The women also outlined goals such as: helping women escape abusive marriages, improving women’s health, eradicating the practice of foot binding, ending domestic abuse, and protecting women’s inheritance rights. Many of these goals would be continued by the ACWF.

1949-1966: Founding and Early Years

The All China Democratic Women’s Federation was established in 1949 as this first country-wide women’s organization, and is the forerunner to the ACWF. Women who had been dominate in the women’s movement and the CCP were included in the federation’s leadership and Cai Chang, a prominent leader in the women’s movement and a active CCP member having participated on the Long March, was the first chair of the organization. The organization began as a federation of women’s groups with dual goals of building a socialist China and promoting the status of women in China. The ACWF went beyond promoting gender, and was a tool used by the part to mobilize women for economic, political and idealogical motives. (turquoise). The beginning stages of the organization was characterized by ideology focusing entirely on Marxism-Leninism. (red) The women’s movement was considered a subset of the Chinese revolution at large, but critics argued that most of the women continued domestic work, and therefore were not active members of the revolution, contradicting the Marxist-Leninist ideology the ACWF was touting. The ACWF contested this assertion, stating the economic conditions were not at the point where jobs could be provided to all women. Therefore, housekeepers, wives and mothers who were dedicated to their work could indeed be seen as contributing to socialism. To emphasize the contribution of women, the Five Good Family Campaign was introduced in 1956 to acknowledge the contributions women were making to families in areas such as education, managing the household, establishing connections with neighbors, keeping the house clean, and self improvement. Promoting this campaign and ideology was important to the ACWF, so the ACWF encouraged local chapters to form women’s congresses to spread the message. (Pink) By 1953, there were over 40,000 officials working to spearhead local organizing campaigns. Around 1957, the ACWF entered a new phase as the federation was formally included in the party structure, entering the administrative hierarchy of the state, and formally declaring itself a mass organization. (purple). The inclusion formally into the PRC altered some of the duties of the ACWF. (red) The ACWF was now responsible for spreading political propaganda among women, guaranteeing the inclusion of women in political campaigns as a watchdog, marketing the campaigns to Chinese women, and organizing parades, meetings and demonstrations so women could participate in campaigns. The CCP sought to use the ACWF to promote its gender-specific ideas and create a formal channel to mobilize women. (turquoise). The ACWF also established affiliations with other mass movements: The YWCA of China and the Women Personnel Section of the Trade Union. (green) In addition to this, the ACWF played an important role internationally for the CCP. (red) As a communist country in the Cold War, China was having difficulty establishing diplomatic connections. ACWF was able to reach out to women’s movements in other countries, and even hosted 23 delegations from other countries for the Asia Women’s Representative Conference in December of 1949. This enabled the PRC connection to foreign countries around the diplomatic blockade. However, soon the Cultural Revolution would being in China, which would force to ACWF to discontinue many of its policies.

ACWF was created as an organization open to all and was supported by the Communist Party of China. It espoused Marxism. The general aims of the federation are to represent and safeguard the rights and interests of women and promote gender equality. The ACWF assists poor women and has trained more than 1,300 members to offer assistance to help women overcome poverty.

In 2000, ACWF developed jobs for one million unemployed women by creating small economic (for profit) entities in which women can work as family service aides or in women's service groups. The organization also helps China's "leftover" women. These are women who remain unmarried after the age of 27. ACWF offers them alternatives such as the opportunity to pursue an education. In late 1995, ACWF began to refer to itself as an non-governmental organization.

See also

• Chinese women in space
• Women's healthcare in China
• Government-operated non-governmental organization (GONGO)

External links

• Vorlage:Official website
• English website

Vorlage:China-org-stub