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U.S./China Joint Conference of the Status of Women: One Woman's Journey?

For Lewis County Clerk Donna Karvia, serving as a citizen ambassador to the U.S./China Joint Conference on the Status of Women was a distinct honor.

Invited by Soroptimist International and the Citizen Ambassador Program of People to People International, Karvia and more than 500 other women traveled to Beijing, in August, hoping to share information with Chinese women on a variety of political and women’s issues. As it turned out, a flurry of last minute itinerary changes by the Chinese government often isolated the delegates from Chinese citizens.

The conference

The goal of the U.S./China joint conference, according to the Soroptimist organization, was to, “examine the social status of women from an international perspective, comparing their roles in business, finance, science, education and political action.” Participants at the conference were to meet with Chinese women political leaders, education providers, and women in business. They were also to get an opportunity to talk to “everyday”, Chinese citizens.

The joint conference was partially linked to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on the Status of Women, which brought over 40,000 women from 185 countries to Beijing to discuss the status of women. Another part of the U.N. Conference was a Nongovernment Organization (NGO) forum which included special interest groups, associations and organizations involved with women’s issues -- all advocates for a particular cause. The purpose of the NGO forum was influence the 4,000 women responsible for an advisory document that will take us into the next 10 years world-wide on women’s issues.

Mural on DV

Before she arrived in Beijing, Karvia was told she would have a chance to present a ten minute talk to attendees of the conference, or to present a poster for display.

Karvia decided to present a home-made poster by pasting up information on domestic violence and written comments from State Attorney General Christine Gregoire, Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Durham, and other domestic violence advocates from around the state.

“I chose the poster, because I felt it would say more, for a longer period of time, to the Chinese people,” explained Karvia.

Controversy surfaced as organizers of the Beijing event decided a change of venue was needed for the poster display, and participants were told they would be bussed across town to a “family planning institute.” China also decided to move the NGO forum of the U.N. conference from Beijing to a town called Huairou, over 35 miles away.

The change of location, Karvia said, allowed organizers to control which Chinese women would be allowed to view the posters.

“It was an effective way of bringing only a half-dozen Chinese women to see the presentation, and keeping everyone else away,” Karvia said. “During the conference, the Chinese participants were removed from associating with American delegates during breaks and lunch times. And throughout the presentations, the Chinese women that attended gave strong lectures on the value of communism.”

Virtues of Communism

Karvia was able to speak with a few, older Chinese women, and all had a positive view of communism, due to recent advances in women’s rights in their country.

“When you have the opportunity to listen to these women who lived in China prior to 1949 their lives have changed so dramatically for the better, that it is difficult to challenge their belief that communism is the way to go,” Karvia said.

Before ‘49, Karvia said, women were “chattel possessions” of men. “When Chairman Mao declared, ‘the women hold up half of the world’...over 90% of the women had no education, and they were not entitled to equal opportunities for jobs. So, to them, becoming part of communism was a tremendous step forward, particularly in regards to education. This is why we see such a pro-communism stance in news articles, particularly in the Beijing Review, because it is their view on the world, and what [China] has done for women’s rights.”

‘No domestic violence in Beijing’

While Karvia does not regret she chose domestic violence as her topic, she does feel she was kept from learning much about domestic violence problems in China.

“The first statement I heard from Chinese representatives was, ‘There is no domestic violence in Beijing. The next comment I heard was, ‘there probably is domestic violence out in the country. We haven’t seen it, but it probably is there.’

“One woman told a story of a woman who had given birth to (her) fifth female child--and her husband cut her nose off as punishment. So, it reminded me of my office, when you talk about domestic violence and you ask, ‘has there been domestic violence?’ [the victim] says no. But then when you ask very specifically, ‘have you been hit? have you been threatened? are you frightened?’ you get a very different response,” explained Karvia.

Scathing reports of the U.S.

Another thing Karvia found difficult to accept were the scathing, local newspaper reports about the rights of women in the United States. “The papers have dramatic examples of what they see as persecution of women, and a lack of government commitment to women’s affairs,” Karvia said.

By comparing statistics, the Beijing media has been able to deflect debate or discussion on women’s rights issues in China. A September 1995 English-edition of the Beijing Review, an article headlined “Differing Status of Chinese and American Women,” declared “Ninety percent of all Chinese families lead a happy, normal life, with only 10 percent experiencing various types of disputes which lead to broken families....While the rate of family violence in China is a low 1 percent, statistics show that over 4 million women in the United States are subjected to marital violence each year.

“In fact,” the article continued, “acts of marital violence against women occur on an average of every 15 seconds, with between 15-25 percent of pregnant women subjected to the same maltreaments...One American woman is subjected to some sort of family violence every eight minutes. Between 2,000 to 4,000 American women die each year from severe beatings, with 1,500 dying at the hands of their husbands....The United States ranks first in the world in terms of family violence and the molestation and abuse of women.”

Karvia found the stories distressing examples of how statistical information, true or not, can be gathered from America’s free press then bent to fit propaganda uses in the tightly controlled Chinese media system, without including a commitment throughout the nation to the elimination of family violence.

The experience

Though the joint conference did not live up to all of Karvia’s expectations, she did get some positives from the event.

“One of the most satisfying things for me was the opportunity to share information with other U.S. citizens on the issue of domestic violence, and to demonstrate the active participation of people in the courts and all levels of government in Washington State,” said Karvia. “I was able to give and receive a great deal of materials from across the country.”

Karvia also had the opportunity to take an extended cultural tour of China, seeing historic treasures such as the Soldiers of Xian, the Great Wall, and seeing the traditional art of modern China including the weaving of silk carpets.

“The Chinese people were gracious hosts and we I appreciated the opportunity to meet, discuss and lay the foundation for world efforts for women and families,” said Karvia. “It was an experience I will never forget, and ultimately, I’m glad I chose to attend.”

(THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM DONNA KARVIA’S POSTER PRESENTED DURING THE U.S./CHINA JOINT CONFERENCE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN)

JUSTICE GUY

“In the world society, men and women are equal contributors to the economic and social well-being of families. Women may justly(?) be deprived of education or work, or be abused because of invalid historic perceptions or because of the physical power of men. We must recognize each other’s worth as partners in building a and human community for children and each other.’”

JOLENE UNSOELD, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE

“Women can free themselves and their children from domestic violence situations when they have the self-esteem and options that can only come from education, vocational training, and business opportunities. Women must help open these options for other women.”

CHRISTINE GREGIORE, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON

“Domestic violence touches and, in many instances, shatters the lives of thousands of people. Violence in the home spills over into other settings - the neighborhood, the schools, and the streets. It is a vicious cycle that begins in childhood and, unless it is addressed, this cycle of violent behavior continues though adolescence and into adulthood. Our juvenile system is replete with young people whose lives have been tragically marked by violence in the home.

“Our office, working with State Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Durham, recently held the first statewide conference on domestic violence, and from that conference, we are pursuing a comprehensive plan to help prevent domestic violence in Washington.”