Inspiring Change. This is the theme set by the United Nations for this year’s International Women’s Day. All Girls Allowed and the organization’s founder, Chai Ling, are calling for a change that will benefit the women of China – the end of the One Child Policy.
The One Child Policy has been detrimental to the citizens of China, particularly the country’s women. This policy has led to forced sterilization, forced abortions, the selective abortions of unborn girls, and the payment of enormous fines that the average citizen cannot afford. According to All Girls Allowed:
The government’s outlawing of multiple children, combined with a cultural preference for boys, has resulted in the systematic elimination of girls by means of sex-selective abortion, female infanticide, child abandonment, and other forms of gendercide. One out of every six baby girls is lost to abortion, which in turn leads to China’s massive gender imbalance of 40 million extra men. Additionally, many mothers are forced to undergo abortions, sterilizations, and mandatory birth control—processes that are not only dangerous but also dehumanizing.
The One Child Policy has been in place since 1979. All Girls Allowed acknowledges the changes that have been made recently to loosen the policy; however, more changes need to occur:
It is crucial to highlight this issue now, not only because it is International Women’s Day, but also because the Chinese National People’s Congress is currently meeting to discuss legal, political, and economic matters for the country… We urge China to confront its unjust family planning policies now with truth and honesty, to dismiss any illusion that terminating the One-Child Policy would lead to uncontrolled population growth and negative impacts on the nation, and to swiftly end the massive oppression against women done in the name of population control.
