gisw13_chapters

CHINAMicroblogs: An alternative, if limited, venue for addressing women’s rightsviolations in ChinaDanwei and Media Monitor for Women NetworkHudson Locket and Lu Pinwww.danwei.com and www.genderwatch.cnIntroductionEarly 2013 and 2012 saw two major events with ramificationsfor China’s women play out on the nationalstage via microblogs, or weibo ( 微 博 ), platformswhich as of November 2012 had 309 million users,according to the China Internet Network InformationCenter (CNNIC). In both cases, posts containinggraphic mobile phone photos of violent acts againstwomen stirred online tumult over two longstandingChinese institutions – one state-enforced, one culturallyinescapable, both facts of life for much of thecountry’s female populace:• The forced abortion performed in June 2012 onShaanxi resident Feng Jianmei, who was sevenand a half months pregnant, by local officialsenforcing China’s one-child policy.• The April 2013 ruling granting a divorce andcustody to US citizen Kim Lee, former wife ofthe famed Chinese English teacher Li Yang, ongrounds of domestic violence.Both cases hold lessons for those seeking to useweibo as a vehicle for improving the lot of mainlandChinese women, who by many accounts have seena steady backslide in terms of gender equality sincethe beginning of “Reform and Opening Up” in 1978.BackgroundWith the ousting of central leadership candidateBo Xilai in 2012, weibo once again proved its influenceas a lever with which the public couldexert some degree of oversight on the country’sgoverning body. 1 Bo’s crooked dealings wereexposed when word spread online that his righthandman fled to a US consulate with reportedlyincriminating documents. While blaming the centralgovernment directly remained off limits, weiboshowed it could still play an influential role in determiningthe course of certain events by making1 For more details, see the country report from China in GISWatch 2012:giswatch.org/en/country-report/internet-and-corruption/chinathem undeniable among a large enough portion ofthe population.There is also precedent for online outrageprompting genuine reform of governmentpolicy. Prior to weibo’s 2007 debut, heated onlinediscussion erupted after the 2003 death ofmigrant worker Sun Zhigang, who had been severelybeaten and died while being detained fornot having a temporary living permit or ID. Thefurore led then-Premier Wen Jiabao to announcethe abolition of the custody and repatriation procedure,which had allowed anyone travellingwithout proper documentation to be detained andreturned to their registered place of residence.Case 1: The forced abortion of Feng JianmeiOn 1 June 2012, the Zhenping County Family PlanningBureau in southern Shaanxi province ordered23-year-old Feng Jianmei and her husband, DengJiyuan, to pay a massive fee of CNY 40,000 (aroundUSD 6,500) or face the abortion of Feng’s sevenmonth-oldfoetus. According to a report on theincident eventually released by China’s NationalPopulation and Family Planning Commission,Feng’s failure to change her household registrationafter moving to the town meant she was stillan urban resident, unlike her rural neighbourswho were allowed two children through a loopholein the “one child” family planning policy.Late-term abortions, coerced or otherwise, are illegalin China. Accounts differ as to when the couplewas notified, but imposing hefty (technically illegal)fines has long been popular among localgovernments looking to turn a profit while enforcingthe policy under central government mandate.Family members said that local officials accostedFeng while Deng was away and took her to a hospital,where on 2 June the staff injected shots intoher womb to induce labour. Prior to injection Feng,isolated and blindfolded, was forced to give herthumbprint and signature consenting to the procedure.Early on the morning of 4 June she gave birthto a stillborn girl.Word of the forced abortion began spreadingthrough online discussion forums (Bulletin BoardSystems, or BBS), with pictures posted by at least11 June. That morning, one discussion thread on a93 / Global Information Society Watch