Female Activists Allege Repression of Women and Children in China at UN
Female human rights activists from Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong have jointly raised concerns about China’s forceful repression of women at the UN Human Rights Council, labeling it as one of the worst human rights violations in the country.
During a side event at the 54th UN Human Rights Council, titled “Findings of the UN Women’s Rights Committee on China: Perspectives of affected communities,” they referred to China’s 2023 review by the UN Women’s Rights Committee.
The Committee of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) had earlier asked the Chinese government, based on experts’ recommendations in May, to protect women’s rights in compliance with the Convention. The CEDAW made several recommendations, including ending coercive practices like forced abortions and sterilizations in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, abolishing coerced residential schools for Tibetan girls, and ensuring instruction in minority languages for girls and women belonging to ethnic minorities.
The activists highlighted the challenges faced by Uyghur women, including extrajudicial detentions in concentration camps, forced marriages with Han (Chinese) men, and forced labor. They also pointed out the separation of Uyghur children from their parents and their erasure of linguistic, cultural, and religious rights.
Tibetan-born activist Pema Doma emphasized the coerced residential school system imposed on Tibetan girls, stressing the importance of international support against such practices.
The UN report also recommended that China reverse the closure of schools providing instruction in minority languages and ensure access to education in mother tongues for ethnic minority girls and women, such as Tibetan, Uyghur, and Kazakh.
The activists expressed doubts about China’s willingness to implement these recommendations from the UN Women’s Rights Committee.
Re-reported from the article published in NDTV
