Protecting the Vulnerable: a Discussion of Legal Reform and Civil Society in China

USC U.S.-China Institute hosts a discussion with women's rights activist Guo Jianmei, providing insights to the NGO climate in China

Please join us for a discussion with Ms. Guo Jianmei to learn more about China’s rapidly growing civil society sector and the differences it can make in the lives of women, youth and others around the country.

Ms. Guo, one of China’s preeminent public interest lawyers, has fought for women’s rights in China for more than 17 years; handling legal aid and public interest litigation cases on behalf of women, researching rights protection, and preparing draft laws to protect and promote women’s rights in China.

Drawing on her many years of experience as both a public interest lawyer and pioneer of Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Ms. Guo will outline recent political developments within China, including recent legal reform efforts such as reforms to China’s public interest law and will also discuss the critical role NGOs are playing to help promote and protect the rights of marginalized and vulnerable groups.  Ms. Guo will provide insights to the NGO climate in China pulled from her direct experience in building organizations from the ground up, and examine both the existing legal structure and potential developments that could benefit civil society and China as a whole. 

Guo Jianmei, one of China’s first public interest lawyers, has been fighting for women’s rights in China for the past 17 years; handling numerous legal aid and public interest litigation cases on behalf of women and conducting extensive research on women’s rights protection and legal aid institutions.

Ms. Guo has made it her life’s work to become a pioneering first generation non-government organizations (NGO) practitioner and an influential public interest lawyer. After graduating from Beijing University in 1983, during a period of great reform in China, Ms. Guo served at the Ministry of Justice, the All China Women’s Federation, and the All China Lawyers Association, where she devoted herself to the protection of women’s rights and interests. During this period, Ms. Guo travelled around the country to gain a better understanding of the situation for women in China.

In 1995, after participating in the 4th World Women's Conference in Beijing, Ms. Guo established the Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services of Peking University, China’s first legal aid clinic dedicated to providing legal aid to women. Ms. Guo also founded the NGOs Beijing Zhongze Women’s Legal Counseling and Service Center and Women’s Watch-China, a public policy and resource center dedicated to supporting women’s rights groups.

Ms. Guo has used her legal background to help draft laws such as the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women”, and later led the implementation of the project on “Problems in the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Countermeasures”. Ms. Guo has received numerous awards and recognition, most recently, Ms. Guo was a recipient of the International Women of Courage Award in 2011 and the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for women’s freedom in 2010.

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Contact: U.S.-China Institute
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