Viewpoint | From the perspective of the 2023 China Marriage and Family Report, talk about the legal rights and interests of the "goddess" in the new era!

Recently, I saw a "China Marriage and Family Report 2023" (reprinted from the artificial study of self-education Wa), which counted the relevant data of marriage and divorce in China's marriage and family. Among them:

marriage rate and divorce rate:The marriage rate in China rose from 6.7 ‰ in 2000 to 9.9 ‰ in 2013, then decreased year by year, and fell to 4.8 ‰ in 2022. The divorce rate rose from 0.96 ‰ in 2000 to 3.1 ‰ in 2020, but in 2021, due to the implementation of the divorce cooling-off period, the divorce rate dropped to 2.0 ‰.

Number of marriages:The number of first marriages in China continued to decline after reaching a peak of 23.86 million in 2013, falling to 11.58 million in 2021, down 51.5 per cent from 2013. In 2013, the number of marriage registrations in China was 13.47 million pairs, and in 2022, the number of marriage registrations dropped to 6.83 million pairs, a decline for nine consecutive years.

Reasons for the decline in the number of marriages:First, the number of young people has declined; second, there are more men and fewer women in the marriageable population; third, the age of first marriage is delayed; fourth, the cost of marriage is high; fifth, social competition is fierce and employment pressure is high; sixth, the marriage concept of the younger generation has changed.

Age of First Marriage:In 1990, the average age of first marriage for men was 23.59 years old, and that for women was 22.15 years old; in 2000, the average age of first marriage for men rose to 25.11 years old, and that for women rose to 23.28 years old; by 2020, the average age of first marriage for men rose to 29.38 years old, and that for women rose to 27.95 years old.

proportion of married and unmarried:From 2009 to 2013, the proportion of women aged 20-39 who were married fell from 77.93 per cent to 67.06 per cent, rising to 72.72 per cent in 2019. In 2019, the proportion of unmarried men aged 30-34 in China was 18.16, and the proportion of unmarried women was 8.7, which was lower than that of most developed countries.

Unmarried cohabitation rate:China's unmarried cohabited rate is rising. According to data from the 2018 China Family Tracking Survey, the birth cohort for 1980-1984 had an unmarried cohabited rate of 33.33 per cent for men and 26.79 per cent for women; the birth cohort for 1985-1989 had an unmarried cohabited rate of 37.99 per cent for men and 33.13 per cent for women.

Sex ratio:In recent decades, the sex ratio at birth in China has gradually increased with the tightening of the fertility policy, and then gradually decreased with the relaxation of the fertility policy. In the total population of the country in 2020, there are 34.9 million more men than women. Among them, there are 17.52 million more men of marriageable age between 20 and 40 years old than women.

Family size:Since the founding of the people's Republic of China, the general trend of family size in China has been shrinking. In 1953, the average family size was 4.30, 4.29 in 1964, 4.41 in 1982, 3.96 in 1990, 3.44 in 2000, 3.10 in 2010 and 2.62 in 2020. In the process of family size miniaturization, a large number of single-parent families, single-family families, one-child families and families of the elderly living alone have emerged.

From the above data, it can be seen that our country's ultra-low fertility rate and the rapid shrinking of the young population, young people's views on marriage and love have also changed. This change undoubtedly reflects the continuous improvement of women's social status in the new era, the assumption of important social affairs, and social pressure. And other effects and influences. More and more women have changed the traditional concept of marriage and childbirth, and women also know how to use legal weapons to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

Since 1949, China has enacted four laws on marriage and family: the first Marriage Law in 1950, the Marriage Law in 1980, the amendment to the Marriage Law in 2001, and the implementation of the Marriage and Family Chapter of the Civil Code in 2021. These legal provisions guarantee the rights and interests of women in marriage and family. At the same time, the "the People's Republic of China Labor Law", "the People's Republic of China Labor Contract Law", "the People's Republic of China Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests", "Special Provisions on the Labor Protection of Female Workers" and other legal provisions promulgated by the state are also protecting women's rights and interests in the workplace. Now let's take a look at what guarantees our laws provide for "goddesses.

Women have "the right to the name of the joint property of husband and wife"

With the development of the times, more and more women go out of their families and enter the workplace, but there are still some women who sacrifice their careers for the sake of their families and return to their families to be full-time mothers. The entire family income is entirely the responsibility of the man. However, when there is a problem in the marriage, the two parties have a dispute over the common property of the marriage, it is necessary for both parties to prove whether the property is the common property of the husband and wife, combined with the source of property, the time of acquisition and other factors to consider, and women often provide difficulties in providing evidence, it is difficult to protect their rights.

Article 66 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests: "Women have equal rights with their spouses to possess, use, gain and dispose of the joint property of husband and wife, and are not affected by the income status of both parties. For real estate jointly owned by husband and wife and movable property that can be jointly registered, the woman has the right to request that her name be recorded on the ownership certificate; if she believes that the recorded rights holder, subject matter, proportion of rights and other matters are wrong, she has the right to apply for correction of registration or objection to registration in accordance with the law, and the relevant institutions shall go through the corresponding registration formalities in accordance with their application."

Taking care of the family is not a woman's unilateral obligation.

Affected by the traditional concept of family, in the sharing of family obligations, there is often the idea that men are in charge of the outside and women are in charge of the inside. As a result, many men have less burden on family life, and they deeply believe that taking care of family affairs is what women should do, but both husband and wife have the obligation to share the family, and taking care of the family is not a unilateral obligation of women. If a woman pays more for the family, she has the right to ask the man for compensation in the event of divorce.

Article 68 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests: "Both husband and wife shall share family obligations and take care of family life together. If the woman has more obligations to raise her children, care for the elderly, assist the man in his work, etc., she shall have the right to demand compensation from the man at the time of divorce. The method of compensation shall be determined by agreement between the two parties; if the agreement fails, she may file a lawsuit in a people's court."

Women's reproductive surgery requires their consent.

Women are faced with the choice of natural delivery or caesarean section, painless delivery, etc., and their husbands or other relatives of women are usually listed as informed consents to the surgical risk notice. If the informed consent does not agree, the operation cannot be performed even if the woman herself consents. It should be noted that if the woman herself is in a coma or in a special state where she is unable to make her own decisions, it is necessary for the operation to require the signature of her family members; however, when the woman herself is sober and can make her own decisions, she should respect her own wishes and make her own decisions.

Article 21 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests "Women's rights to life, physical fitness and health shall be inviolable. Maltreatment, abandonment, mutilation, sale and other acts that infringe upon women's rights and interests in life and health shall be prohibited. Sex identification of fetuses that are not medically necessary and sex-selective artificial termination of pregnancy shall be prohibited. Medical institutions shall obtain the consent of women themselves when performing reproductive operations, special examinations or special treatments".

Law Gives Women 'Defensive Shield' in Special Events of Divorce"

When there is a problem in the marriage, is it possible for the man to divorce at any time? What kind of protection does the law give us? In contemporary society, if the woman wants to divorce, she can file a lawsuit or go to the civil affairs department to register and negotiate the divorce. If the man wants to file for divorce, there are certain restrictive conditions, because our national law clearly stipulates three specific situations in which the man cannot file for divorce.

Article 1079 of the Civil Code If one of the spouses requests a divorce, the relevant organization may mediate or directly file a divorce lawsuit with the people's court. In handling divorce cases, the people's court shall conduct mediation; if the relationship has indeed broken down and mediation is invalid, the divorce shall be granted.

Divorce shall be granted if mediation fails under any of the following circumstances:

(I) bigamy or cohabitation with another person;

(II) domestic violence or abuse or abandonment of family members;

(III) gambling, drug abuse and other bad habits do not change;

(IV) have been separated for two years due to emotional discord;

(V) other situations that lead to the breakdown of a couple's relationship.

If one party is declared missing and the other party files divorce proceedings, the divorce shall be granted.

After the people's court has ruled that divorce is not allowed, the two parties have been separated for one year, and one party files divorce proceedings again, the divorce shall be granted.

Article 64 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests "The man shall not file for divorce during pregnancy, within one year after childbirth, or within six months after termination of pregnancy; however, the woman files for divorce or the people's court deems it necessary to accept the man's divorce Except for the request".

Operators have a "legal obligation" to protect women's rights and interests"

As women in the workplace, we will inevitably travel in the hotel accommodation, especially women travel alone accommodation, there may be unsafe situation. Some illegal and criminal acts such as rape, indecency, disclosure of women's privacy, and trafficking in women will occur in hotels, hotels and other places, and accommodation operators are most likely to find such acts. If corresponding measures can be taken, such crimes can be prevented and stopped to a certain extent.

Article 26 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests "regulates the safety and security obligations of accommodation operators, requiring them to register the information of accommodation personnel in a timely and accurate manner, improve the rules and regulations of accommodation services, and strengthen safety and security measures; illegal and criminal acts that may infringe upon the rights and interests of women shall be reported to the public security organs in a timely manner". This is an increase in legal obligations for accommodation operators, with security and timely reporting obligations, and is an effective way to prevent and stop illegal acts in a timely manner.

The media has an obligation to avoid over-reporting on violations of women's rights.

With the rapid development of the Internet, it not only brings more convenience to everyone, but also brings some hidden dangers or inconvenience. Such as network violence, people go to search and so on, the protection of personal information, and even the right of reputation, portrait rights and so on. For women, if they encounter online violence or slander incidents using the media and the Internet, the harm will be more serious.

Article 28 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests "Women's personal rights and interests such as name rights, portrait rights, reputation rights, honor rights, privacy rights and personal information shall be protected by law. Media reports on incidents involving women should be objective and appropriate, and should not infringe on women's personal rights and interests by exaggerating facts or over-exaggerating. It is prohibited to degrade and damage the personality of women through the mass media or other means. Without my consent, women's portraits shall not be used in the form of advertisements, trademarks, exhibition windows, newspapers, periodicals, books, audio-visual products, electronic publications, and the Internet, unless otherwise provided by law."

Widening the Channels of Sexual Harassment Rights Protection

Sexual harassment is one of the hot issues that have been widely concerned by the whole society in recent years, especially in the workplace. Many women in the workplace are sexually harassed, which makes the victims hard to prevent and miserable.

Article 23 of the law on the protection of women's rights and interests prohibits sexual harassment against women by means of words, words, images and physical behaviors. Victims may lodge complaints with the relevant units and State organs. The relevant units and state organs that receive complaints shall handle them in a timely manner and inform them of the results in writing. The victimized woman may report the case to the public security organ, or file a civil lawsuit with the people's court, requesting the perpetrator to bear civil liability in accordance with the law ". The law defines the concept of sexual harassment and broadens the ways of relief and rights protection.

Sex discrimination shall not be a condition of employment

As a woman entering society, she will be asked whether she has a child or whether she has a birth plan when she is faced with applying for a job or a job interview. Gender discrimination is a problem that women often encounter in the workplace, and it is also a social problem that cannot be ignored.

The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests clearly expresses the intervention attitude towards gender discrimination in the workplace.

Article 43: In the process of recruitment (employment), unless otherwise stipulated by the state, the employing unit shall not carry out the following acts: (1) limiting it to men or giving priority to men; (II), in addition to personal basic information, further inquire or investigate the marriage and childbearing situation of female job seekers; (III) taking pregnancy test as an entry physical examination item; (IV) to restrict marriage, childbearing or marriage and childbearing status as conditions for recruitment (employment); (V) other acts of refusing to recruit (employ) women on the grounds of gender or raising the standard of recruiting (employ) women in a differentiated manner.