Sichuan has formed an advisory committee tasked to assess if laws in China’s southwest province adhere to the policy of gender equality.
According to womenofchina.cn, 10 laws and regulations passed this year will be included in the assessment list for evaluation by the committee.
He Xia, an expert and associate professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, welcomed the development and said that he is excited over the plans.
"It promotes mainstream social gender consciousness and gender equality in legislation and policy, fundamentally protecting the legal rights and interests of women and children," the professor was quoted as saying.
"Focusing on gender culture, the assessment mechanism promotes social consciousness on the gender equality of decision-makers and the public by capacity building, planting the roots for a better system and efficient implementation," the professor added.
According to the report, the Advisory Committee Assessing Gender Equality in Policies and Regulations of Sichuan Province was founded in Nov. 2014 and comprised of 21 departments, including the Provincial High People's Court, the People's Procuratorate and the Sichuan Women's Federation. Its members are selected from experts in law, gender studies and sociology.
As reported during its first conference, the committee's major responsibility is to evaluate the gender equality in local laws, policies and regulations that closely relate to women's rights and interests and forward suggestions.
The committee would also monitor the implementation of laws and policies relevant to gender equality to ensure further development of gender equality through promotion, training and research.
In addition to this, committee officials can also consult with experts to assess the content in local laws, regulations and documents that may raise doubts or concerns for people. The comments and suggestions of experts will be given to the relevant department, the report said.
As mandated by law, the legislative department is tasked to resolve the disputes and submit its reply to the public as soon as possible, the report added.
Part of the work regulation of the committee includes self-assessment to be undertaken by the department, with special focus on particular cases and detection.
"It means we monitor the local laws and regulations from their draft stages to execution," an expert member clarified.