Critical Evaluation of The Role of Social-Purpose Organizations in Mitigating Gender Inequality in China. (Research Paper Sample)

Critical Evaluation of The Role of Social-Purpose Organizations in Mitigating Gender Inequality in China. Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Instructor Date Introduction This essay evaluates the role of social-purpose organizations in mitigating gender inequality in China. The selected problem is based on the United National Sustainable Development Framework, specifically Sustainable Development Goal 5, which focuses on gender equality. The essay analyses the current situation and assesses the historical evolution in regard to gender equality for the past two decades in China. It also assesses the role of national and international policies, in this case, the Women Protection Law of 2022 and the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention of 1958, respectively, that seek to alleviate gender inequality. Next, the essay evaluates the role of social-purpose organizations, specifically the United Nations and Grameen China, in addressing gender equality problems. Lastly, the essay recommends policy and practice changes to mitigate the root cause of gender equality problems in China and ends with a conclusion that summarises the key points. Analysis of the current situation and historical evolution of China over the past two decades, with respect to the SDG 5 Gender equality has been challenging in China for some time, due to the patriarchal system passed down across Asian generations. According Blazyte (2022), 55% of Chinese respondents outline that women should be well-represented in government and political agencies over the next two decades. These statistical results are considerably higher than the global average of 39% who believe women should be well represented in governance and politics. Although there has been significant progress in gender equality, some issues still challenge the progressive results. For instance, Iwasaki and Ma (2020) indicate that the wage gap is still persistent in China. The authors note that the wage gap is more severe in rural areas when compared to urban centers (Iwasaki & Ma, 2020). While it is inspired that the gender equality question should be bridged, the results indicate that the gender wealth gap has been increasing in the recent past in the factor of men. The availability of resources further challenges the issue of gender equality. In this regard, Yang (2020) points out that although the socialist revolution in China has improved the status of women, resource availability affects the extent of equality. The author notes that gender equality is often better achieved if adequate resources are available. However, in a system of limited or scarce resources, women remain more disadvantaged when compared to men. These results indicate that the levels of gender inequality in China are highly dependent on socioeconomic events that directly relate to the progressive goals of the gender revolution. Research on other major issues points to the lack of appropriate political involvement in developing policies to empower women. He and Wu (2018) outline that the policies implemented in China are to blame for the persistent problem of gender equality. They, therefore, argue that a change in policies promoting the implementation of gender-balanced practices may help improve in bridging the disparity. The same sentiments are shared by Yiping (2021), who outlines that different organizations also need to be involved in the policy generation process. For instance, the use of women's NGO forums, such as the women's rights caucus, has so far been effective in managing gender equality disparities in China. The Role of National and International Policies to Foster Improvement in Gender Equality The last two decades have highlighted an increasing gender wage gap and more barriers to social support systems for women in China (Dabla-Norris & Brussevich, 2021). However, China has been active in addressing gender equality challenges through policy action to realize its goal of creating a people-centered society characterized by high-quality development. The effectiveness of a policy intervention and its ability to realize the intended goals can evaluated using the logics model as shown in figure 1. China has relied on both national and international policies to pursue the people-centered society objective. The country has dedicated resources to ensure realization of gender equality. Some of the important laws and guidelines that emphasize gender equality at the national level include the Special Rules on the Labor Protection of Female Employees of 2012 and the Women’s Protection Law of 2022. At the international level, China ratified ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), in 2006 to promote gender equality (International Labor Organization, 2019). Figure 1: Logics model (Angeli, 2022) The Women Protection Law was revised and adopted by the National People’s Congress in October 2022, and it is expected to become effective in January 2023 (Holbrooks, 2022). The new law contains about thirty new provisions that seek to promote women's protection in regard to gender equality during recruitment and terms of work negotiations. Further, it outlines the obligations of employers in preventing sexual harassment. The key advantage of this law is that it contains provisions that serve as relief measures that women can take in cases where their rights and interests are curtailed. Another key advantage is that the law clearly identifies the specific behaviors that can amount to gender discrimination. These include restricting a job offer to men only or clearly indicating that men will be given priority in certain jobs, investigating marital and maternal situations of female jobs applicants, demanding pregnancy tests as part of physical examination during recruitment, and refusing to hire women on the basis of gender, and making marriage or maternity a requirement for recruitment. The key disadvantage of this law is the relatively small fine imposed, RMB 50,000, upon violating the gender-equality policy, which can only happen after the employer declines to rectify the irregularities (Yu & Wang, 2022). Labor Protection of Female Employees of 2012 was adopted in April 2012. According to the International Labor Organization (2014), the objective of the policy was to mitigate the difficulties that women often face at work owing to their physical characteristics and to safeguard their health. Article three of the policy requires employers to reinforce labor safety for women employees. Further, it requires them to take all the necessary measures to enhance female workers’ safety and offer labor safety training to enhance the health knowledge of female workers. The key disadvantage of this policy is the overemphasis on women's safety rather than the overall focus on gender equality, as men and women equally need to be protected in their respective workplaces. The advantage of the regulation is that it is binding to all employers operating within the People’s Republic of China, including state organs, public bodies, social establishments, and individual economic organizations, among others. Another key strength of the law is that it expands the scope of inappropriate activities that women should engage in at the workplace during lactation and pregnancy. It also imposes hefty fines of up to RMB 300,000 for serious violations. ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) is a set of proposals made by the International Labor Office to reduce discrimination in the workplace. One of the key advantages of this policy is that it requires every member that is bound by the rules to pursue and establish national policies that seek to promote equal opportunities and treatment in the workplace (Plender, 2007). The objective of this requirement is to ensure that every nation designs a policy that is appropriate to the local conditions and general practice. Another key strength of the policy is that it requires policymakers to ensure that guidelines developed in line with the policy should not adversely impact existing measures that are designed to meet special requirements for purposes such as race and sex, among others. The key weakness of the policy lies in the freedom it gives member countries in formulating local policies instead of developing a framework that is binding to all Members of the International Labor Organization. The Role of Social-Purpose organizations In Addressing Gender Equality Problems Grameen China is a social enterprise that was founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus to promote the welfare of low-income women in China. The organization’s theory of change is premised on offering services such as savings, financial education, micro-finance, and credit to women to alleviate poverty among women and consequently change the traditional role of women in the Chinese society. As a way to create a pathway to accomplish these objectives, Grameen China helps women in rural areas to set up small businesses in an effort to reduce prejudice against them (Wang et al., 2022). Grameen China is part of the larger Grameen Trust, which focuses on microfinance and social entrepreneurship. Grameen China collaborates with Chinese banks and non-governmental organizations to provide financial services to needy women with no or low-interest rates. Grameen China promotes gender equity by supporting poor women (Zhao & Han, 2019). The company mitigates risk by establishing five-person groups with no specific joint liability to promote social capital building. However, the groups are advantageous to women as they allow them to hold weekly meetings with company officers. Besides, the groups help women to promote progress and encourage loan repayment. The advantage of the strategy is that it has previously been successful in Bangladesh, where Grameen Bank, the Bangladeshi government, and the people worked ...