CHINA
A publication by Human Rights Watch claims the Chinese Government is posting Public Service job advertisements that discriminate against women.
The publication, Only Men Need Apply, says there are growing levels of discrimination in the wording of job advertisements.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO), which fights against human rights abuses, said that in 2017 some 13 per cent of China’s national Public Service job listings had positions specifying “men only”, “men preferred” or “suitable for men”.
So far in 2018, the figure had increased to 19 per cent.
Human Rights Watch gave an example of a recent posting for a position at the Ministry of Public Security’s News Department, which read: “Need to work overtime frequently, high-intensity work, only men need apply.”
China Director at Human Rights Watch, Sophie Richardson said Chinese authorities needed to act now to enforce existing laws to end Government and private hiring practices that blatantly discriminated against women.
She said of the Ministries or local affiliates that posted at least 100 job advertisements, the top violator of gender non-discrimination laws was the Railway Public Security Bureau, for which all postings contained the requirement “male preference” or “male only”.
The National Bureau of Statistics was in second place this year, with 56 per cent of its postings classed as discriminatory — up 15 per cent from 2017.
Human Rights Watch noted that it had also found one advertisement that stated women were preferred.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Government would “investigate and prosecute” organisations that published gender discriminatory job advertisements.
Beijing, 26 May 2018
