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All-China Women's Federation
A mass organisation established by the CCP in 1949 to mobilise women in support of CCP policies and to promote women's rights within the framework of socialist construction. The Federation campaigned for implementation of the Marriage Law, ran literacy programs for women, and recruited women into the workforce. It served simultaneously as a vehicle for genuine women's empowerment and as a CCP-controlled organisation that constrained independent feminist activism.
Marriage Law (1950)
The Marriage Law of 1950 was one of the first laws promulgated by the People's Republic of China. It abolished arranged marriages, child betrothal, concubinage, and the purchase of wives. It established the legal equality of men and women in marriage, required mutual consent, set minimum ages for marriage, and gave women equal rights to divorce and to hold property. Implementation was uneven, particularly in rural areas, but the law fundamentally altered the legal framework of gender relations in China.