“In China, a woman’s body is not her own; it’s in the domain of the state.”
    -Reggie Littlejohn, President, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers   

Thursday, September 22 marked a victory for human rights activists at United States Congress. The Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights held its One Child Policy Hearing (watch webcast here) in the Rayburn House Office Building, and a few women who had suffered from these massive human rights injustices finally had their voices heard.

Committee Chairman (Representative) Christopher Smith, (R- NJ) and members of his subcommittee hosted prominent human rights activists including Reggie Littlejohn (President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers) and Dr. Valerie Hudson of Brigham Young University. Additionally, three survivors of the cruelties resulting from the One Child Policy spoke about their individual situations.  The women’s first-hand accounts of China’s human rights abuses were gut-wrenching, making it nearly impossible to leave Rayburn 2200 without a pit in your stomach.

Each woman had her own story, yet the human rights injustices incurred against them were shocklingly similar.  Ms. Ji was told she would be fined 200,000 yuan (the equivalent of 32,000 US Dollars) and lose her job if she had more than one child.  When she became pregnant with her second child, she was dragged to the abortion clinic and forced to have an abortion.  Meanwhile Ms. Lu was forced to go through five abortions between 1983 and 1990, after the birth of her first child in 1983.  Every month, the local Family Planning Commission checked to ensure she was not pregnant. She could only collect payment from her job when they verified she was not pregnant.  During her final abortion, the examiners placed an IUD in her - despite her protests because she had a kidney disease.  Furthermore, her husband was fired from his job and jailed.

Not only were these women physically violated, but they also had no control over their own family planning.  Both Ms. Ji and Ms. Lu’s marriages did not survive, and they continue to deal with emotional pain from their forced abortions today.

Unfortunately, millions of other Chinese women have suffered from conditions similar to Ms. Lu's and Ms. Ji's.  Since its implementation in 1979, China’s One Child Policy has prevented 400 million births.  Additionally, “gendercide” has become a prevalent problem in China.  It is common for families to abort female fetuses than male fetuses. Chairman Smith estimated that there are 100 million more males than females in China today. During the hearing, Chairman Smith and the panelists illustrated why this is such an issue for Chinese Society. 

Not only does this mean that women are treated with minimal respect in Chinese society, it also has serious human rights and economical impacts. Men are having trouble finding wives, which has led to them importing unconsenting wives from nearby countries such as Burma, Vietnam, and Romania. Ms. Littlejohn noted that human trafficking of females for their sexual exploit has become one of the fastest growing problems in China. Ms. Littlejohn explained that the policy has caused the decline of the Chinese working age population. This has serious implications on Chinese society, as the government will continue to become more authoritarian to maintain power over an aging but predominantly male Chinese society.  Ending the One Child Policy will not only improve life for the Chinese people on an individual level, but it will benefit the Chinese economy in the future.

At the end of the hearing, Chairman Smith assured the panelists and the audience that his committee would not sit idly by. Chairman Smith has drafted the China Democracy Promotion Act of 2011 that will deny US visas to Chinese government officials who are part of these Chinese human rights injustices.  

While it is comforting to know that Smith and the members of his subcommittee are focused on reforming US policy towards China, more action regarding US foreign policy needs to be taken by the US government.  As Chairman Smith said in the hearing, Vice President Joe Biden has publically acknowledged the One Child Policy but explained that he did not question it.  Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton has also expressed her belief that human rights issues in China should not impede US economic development.  Even more shocking, public figures like Ted Turner have called for a One Child Policy in America.  It is time the US government takes the lead in fighting these injustices. Passing Chairman Smith’s most recent bill would be a good start.