\n
\nPreference for sons<\/b><\/p>\n
![\"Reggie](\"http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/image.gif\")
<\/a>Reggie Littlejohn in an undated photo.<\/p><\/div>\n
Littlejohn called on the Chinese authorities to remove the incentive for son preference among Chinese families.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBecause of son preferences in China, people feel that if they have only one child or if they have two children, their only child or one of their two children must be a boy,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cAnd that has led to very serious abortion or abandonment of baby girls.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo now there\u2019s a situation where there\u2019s about 37 million more men than women living in China, and that is driving human trafficking and sexual slavery because there aren\u2019t enough women, because there\u2019s an enormous gender imbalance,\u201d Littlejohn said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is human trafficking all over the world, but it\u2019s much worse in China because of the one-child policy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Littlejohn\u2019s Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers is a broad-based, international coalition striving to raise public awareness on the \u201ccoercive enforcement of China\u2019s One Child Policy, the connection between this coercion and human trafficking in Asia, and the other human rights abuses that arise out of this coercive enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Under policy changes announced in November 2013, the ruling Chinese Communist Party \u201chas given the green light to couples wanting to have two children if [either parent] is an only child,\u201d according to a Nov. 16 report by the state-controlled Xinhua news service.<\/p>\n But the number of Chinese couples that will be covered by the new policy \u201cis not very large across the country,\u201d Xinhua said, quoting Wang Pei\u2019an, deputy director of China\u2019s National Health and Planning Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, there is no unified timetable nationwide to start the new policy, as regions will implement it at different times based on their local situation,\u201d Xinhua continued, quoting Wang.<\/p>\n Upgrade criticized<\/b><\/p>\n Littlejohn also criticized the U.S. State Department for upgrading China this year from the lowest ranking in an annual global survey of human trafficking, calling the move \u201ccompletely unwarranted and baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, the State Department\u2019s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed China on Tier-2 Watch List\u2014the second lowest rank\u2014after dumping it last year to the Tier-3 blacklist of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.<\/p>\n The report noted the change made by Beijing to allow families with one single-child parent to have a second child.<\/p>\n It said that the change \u201cmay affect future demand for prostitution and for foreign women as brides for Chinese men\u2014both of which may be procured by force or coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n The report added that the Chinese government was \u201dmaking significant efforts\u201d to meet basic standards in fighting human trafficking.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that that is completely unjustified, because this so-called modification of the one-child policy was extremely minor,\u201d Littlejohn said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut whether a woman has one child or two, she will still need a permit authorizing the birth of each child, Littlejohn said. \u201cAnd if she doesn\u2019t have one, she will still have a forced abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is never a proper way to control a population.\u201d<\/p>\n Failure to act<\/b><\/p>\n Meanwhile, in the absence of changes made to Chinese cultural views, gendercide will continue unabated, Littlejohn said.<\/p>\n \u201cAllowing couples to have a second child is not going to end gendercide,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Chinese daughters, when they marry, traditionally join the households of their husband\u2019s family and help support his parents in their old age, \u201cso the entire investment now that people make in raising their daughters goes entirely to the family of the young man that she marries.\u201d<\/p>\n China\u2019s government could reduce the numbers of aborted or abandoned girls by providing economic incentives to families giving birth to girls and special compensation to retirement-age couples who have no sons to support them, Littlejohn said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they have not taken any effective action at all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n “There is no need for a one-child policy. It should be abolished entirely.”<\/p>\n Republished with permission. View original article at rfa.org:\u00a0http:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/policy-07232014161119.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Richard Finney and Nadia Usaeva (Radio Free Asia) – Changes recently introduced to China\u2019s brutal one-child policy are not likely to reduce the number of forced abortions or ease human trafficking in the country, according to a prominent American … Continue reading