China's One-Child Policy and Its Violations of Women's and Children's Rights

Abstract

Forced abortion and sterilization are inhumane and unacceptable in modern society. Under the regime of the Communist Party, China was devoted to removing the burden of over-population as a means of promoting economic development, protecting the environment, and solving the problem of poverty. China's one-child policy was developed out of the ideal family model of 'one couple, one child.' Although violations of women's rights are prohibited by domestic statutes, there is a great discrepancy between law as it appears on paper and the law in actual practice. In reality, the one-child policy is carried out through involuntary contraception, forced sterilization, and abortion, which seriously violate women's basic dignity and human rights. Abuse of China's one-child policy and the resulting human rights violations are the major concerns of this article. In part II, I will explain the background of China's one-child policy, including its history and basic elements. To better understand the policy's effect, this paper provides statistics to illustrate the number of Chinese women who accept the practice of forced sterilization. In this part, I will also address the women's rights infringed on by the various departments within the government that are charged with enforcing the policy. In part III and part IV, I will analyze both international law and China's national statutes, respectively, for potential bases for such action and, subsequently, conclude that no legal basis exists for using coercive methods in the enforcement of the one-child policy in China. In part III, I will focus attention on international human rights laws, treaties, conventions, and other instruments that address women's rights, and to which China is a signatory. I will explain how international human rights laws universally acknowledge women's basic reproductive rights and discuss the binding effects of these laws. In part IV, I will focus attention on China's domestic statutes and regulations with respect to women's rights.