Rights of Life and Health of Women Under Visual Angle of Social Sex

Rights of Life and Health of Women Under Visual Angle of Social Sex

Right to Life and Health of Women

from Perspective of Social Gender

Wang Liping

[Abstract] Right to life and health is the right enjoyed by citizen endowed by laws against unlawful depriving of life safety and against unlawful infringement on all organs and functions of body. Women’s right to life and health is the right enjoyed by women to protect her life, body, health against deprivation and infringement according to laws. The object of the rights is the basic interest of human, or life, body and health. Right to life and health of women is the most important and the most basic human rights of women and protection of right to life and health of women is the indispensable precondition for women’s participating in social development.

Women’s right to life and health may be subdivided into right to life, right to body, right to health. The right to life is the independent and concrete right of personality with interest of women’s life safety contented, the object of this right is life safety of natural person; the right to body is women’s concrete right of personality to protect completeness of her body and to control her limbs, organs and other tissues, it’s object is body and body’s interest of citizen; the right to health is women’s concrete right of personality with maintaining interest of activity of human’s body on normal operation of organism’s physiological enginery and sufficient implementation of function contented. Right of life, right of body and right of health are interrelated with each other, but with emphasize on each other. Just because of close relations among the three rights, we mostly call them in general as rights of life and health for protection in law.

Women’s right to life and health has aroused attention of all countries in modern society, criminal laws, civil laws and administrative laws all have applied strictly protection on it. Infringement on life-health of women can be generalized in three styles: infringe on right to life, or make one died; infringe on right to body, or infringe on completeness of body; infringe on right to health, or injure one’s health.

Since the foundation of P.R.C., Chinese government has worked out a series of laws and regulations to protect right to life and health of women. Contents of protection of women’s right to life and health included in the laws and regulations mainly are these: crimes provided in “Criminal Law” such as crime of intentional homicide, crime of negligent menslaughter, crime of intentional injury, crime of negligent serious injury, crime of rape, crime of having sexual intercourse with a minor, crime of insulting and indecently against women by force, crime of unlawful detention, crime of abducting and trafficking women, crime of buying abducted and trafficked women, crime of maltreatment, and crime of abandon. “General Provisions of the Civil Law” also have provisions of protection on rights of life and health of women: citizens shall enjoy rights of life and health, Whoever infringes upon a citizen's person and causes him physical injury shall pay his medical expenses and his loss in income due to missed working time and shall pay him living subsidies if he is disabled; if the victim dies, the infringer shall also pay the funeral expenses, the necessary living expenses of the deceased's dependents and other such expenses. Marriage Law provided that marriage system of sexual equality shall be implemented, legal interest of women shall protect, family violence shall be prohibited, maltreatment and abandon between family member shall be prohibited, also provided in special charter that “salvage measure and liability of law” to guarantee that member of family who encountered with family violence, or be abused, be abandoned shall receive certain salvage. Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women, special law for protecting women’s rights and interests, definite provided that: The state shall guarantee that women enjoy equal rights with men relating to their persons; Women's right of life and health shall be inviolable. Drowning, abandoning or cruel infanticide in any menner of female babies shall be prohibited; discrimination against or maltreatment of women who gave birth to female babies or women who are sterile shall be prohibited; cruel treatment causing injury even death of women by superstition or violence shall be prohibited; maltreatment or abandonment of aged women shall be prohibited; Abduction of and trafficking in, or kidnapping of women shall be prohibited; buying of women who are abducted and trafficked in, or kidnapped shall be prohibited. People's governments and relevant departments must take timely measures to rescue women who are abducted and trafficked in, or kidnapped. If such women have returned to their former places of residence, nobody may discriminate against them, and the local people's governments and relevant departments shall well settle the problems arising thereafter; Prostitution or whoring shall be prohibited. It is prohibited for anyone to organize, force, seduce, shelter or introduce a women to engage in prostitution or employ or shelter a women to engage in obscene activities with others. If legal interests and rights of women shall be infringed, the victim may require related administrative department to handle it, or may take action to people’s count according to laws; the victim may complain to women’s organizations, and women’s organizations shall require related departments or units to handle the infringement to protect legal rights and interests of women be infringed. Further more, under related labor regulations, health regulations and social security system such as Labor law, Labor Protection Regulations on Female Staff, Regulations on Scope of Work Prohibited for Female Staff, health Law of Mother and Infant, related provisions of protecting right of health of women also exited.

Although regulations of women’s right to life and health in related laws are relatively complete, behaviors infringed women’s right to life and health in real life happened constantly, and women’s rights of life and health encountered certain challenges, e.g. family violence, sexual harassment, problem of women’s health care, problem of procreation insurance and problem of women’s labor protection. settlement of this problem, on one hand, shall await promotion of related legislation, such as laws on family violence, sexual harassment, and emphasize visual angle of social sex in formulating laws and regulations, on the other hand, we shall made all efforts to promote exercising of visual angle of social sex in implementing laws and policies. We also shall improve cognition of nondiscrimination on women, treat women fairly, admire women’s acknowledgement, and emphasize on women’s human rights of entire society to provide excellent social environment for women’s development. Thus, women and men may cooperate and develop continuously.

(Key Words) Women’s rights of life and health

Visual angle of social sex

Women’s human rights

Cooperation between men and women and continuous development is a symbol of social civilization. Equal participation in social development by women is premised by assurance on women’s rights of life and health. Since the founding of the P.R.C in 1949, Chinese government put highly emphasize on protection of women’s rights of health, and worked out a series of laws and policies to improve level of women’s health. Surely, because of imbalance of development among regions, there are some problems in protection of women’s right of health. This article may analyze under visual angle of social sex to discuss on efficient protecting on women’s rights of life and health in macro.

1. Basic content of women’s right to life and health

Right to life and health, is the right enjoyed by citizen for life endowed with law to deprive safety of life against unlawful and to infringe on all organs and functions of body against unlawful. Women’s right to life and health is the right enjoyed by women to protect her life, body, health against deprivation and infringement according to laws. The object of this right is the basic interest of men, or life, body and health. Body or body of nature person, is carrier which life and health cling to, if body do not existed, the so called life and health do not existed. Body, life and health is the basic interest of nature person, 1any women, no matter age, race, nationality, social status, economic condition, and education level, her rights of health shall be protected by law, women’s rights of life and health shall not be infringed.

Right tof life and health of women can be subdivided into right to life, right to body, right to health. right to life is the independent and concrete right of personality with interest of women’s life safety contented, the object of this right is life safety of natural person, or normal activity of maintaining life and interest of personality to protect life against illegal deprive, the aim of this right is to maintain nature continuity of human’s life activity, also to prevent to be terminated artificially. right to body is women’s concrete right of personality to protect completeness of her body and to control her limbs, organs and other tissues, it’s object is body and body’s interest of citizen, and it’s aim is to preserve completeness and integrality of body, also to hold right to control components of body such as limbs, organs and others tissues. Along with development of science technology and modern law ethics, on preconditions of abiding by principle of loyalty and honesty and noninfringement of fine custom of public order, nature person shall be permitted to control his body and it’s organs and tissues. right to health is women’s concrete right of personality with maintaining interest of activity of human’s body on normal operation of organism’s physiological enginery and sufficient implementation of function contented. Its’ content is normal operation of human’s physiological enginery and ordinary implementation of function. Right of life, right of body and right of health are interrelated with each other, but with disparity with each other. Just because of close relations among the three rights, we mostly call them in general as rights of life and health for protecting in law.

Women’s life and health, expect requiring on life and health of women who stands on the same legal status with men, includes requiring on women’s physiology and mentality and presentation of women’s impersonal social existence. Special evaluating criterion on women’s life, body and health, reflected on law, is legal acknowledgement and protection of women’s rights of life and health. Women’s rights of life and health are the most basic rights women enjoyed, are foundation of all rights and protecting by laws women enjoyed as independent personality and independent subject, also are the basic human rights women enjoyed. Departed from human’s nature body and health, any other right shall encounter “with the skin gone, to what can the hair attach itself?”

Therefore, women’s right to life and health has aroused attention from many countries in modern society, as well as strictly protection from criminal laws, civil laws and administrative laws. Infringement on life-health of women can be generalized in three styles: infringe on right of life, or make one died; infringe on right of body, or infringe on completeness of body; infringe on right of health, or injure one’s health. Laws of many countries in the world have provided different legal liabilities, including criminal liability, administrative liability and civil liability, for different infringements.

2. Laws and regulations concerning protection women’s right to life and health in China

Personality is regarded as the top value of human, while interest of personality as the top interest of human. Respect of personality is goal and basic theory of modern movements on human rights. Thus, protection of women’s right of personality and right to life and health become one of goals of laws in many countries. Chinese government has worked out a series of laws and regulations to protect rights of life and health of women. Content of protection on rights of life and health of women directly involving in these laws and regulations mainly are these:

Major crimes of infringing other’s right to life and health under Criminal Laws of the P.R.C. are: (1) crime of international homicide under article 232: “Whoever intentionally commits homicide shall be sentenced to death, life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years”. (2) criminal of negligent manslaughter under article 233: “Whoever negligently causes death to another person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Law”. (3) crime of international injury under article 234: “Whoever intentionally inflicts injury upon another person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance. Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, thus causing severe injury to another person, shall be sentenced to fixed- term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years; if he causes death to the person or, by resorting to especially cruel means, causes severe injury to the person, reducing the person to utter disability, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Law”. (4)crime of negligent severe injury under article235: “Whoever negligently injures another person and causes severe injury to the person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Law”. (5) crime of rape and crime of having sexual intercourse with a minor under article 236: “Whoever rapes a women by violence, coercion or any other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years. Whoever has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 shall be deemed to have committed rape and shall be given a heavier punishment. Whoever rapes a women or has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 shall, in any of the following circumstances, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death: the circumstances being flagrant; raping a number of women or girls under the age of 14; raping a women before the public in a public place; raping a women with one or more persons in succession; or causing serious injury or death to the victim or any other serious consequences” (6) crime of insulting and indecently against women by force under article 237: “Whoever acts indecently against or insults a women by violence, coercion or any other forcible means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention. Whoever gathers a number of people to commit the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph or commits the crime before the public in a public place shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years”.(7) crime of unlawful detention under article 238: “Whoever unlawfully detains another person or unlawfully deprives the personal freedom of another person by any other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights. If he resorts to battery or humiliation, he shall be given a heavier punishment. Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph and causes serious injury to the victim shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years; if he causes death to the victim, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years. If he causes injury, disability or death to the victim by violence, he shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 234 or 232 of this Law”. (8) crime of abducting and trafficking women under article 240: “Whoever abducts and traffics in a women or child shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined; if he falls under any of the following categories, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or sentenced to confiscation of property; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to death and also to confiscation of property: being a ringleader of a gang engaged in abducting and trafficking in women and children; abducting and trafficking in three or more women and/or children; raping the women who is abducted and trafficked in; enticing or forcing the women who is abducted and trafficked in to engage in prostitution, or selling such women to any other person who would force her to engage in prostitution; kidnapping a women or child by means of violence, coercion or anaesthesia for the purpose of selling the victim; stealing a baby or an infant for the purpose of selling the victim; causing serious injury or death to the women or child who is abducted and trafficked in or to her or his relatives or any other serious consequences; or selling a women or a child out of the territory of China. (9) crime of buying abducted women under article 241: Whoever buys an abducted women or child shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance. Whoever buys abducted women and forces her to have sexual intercourse with him shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 236 of this Law. Whoever buys an abducted women or child and illegally deprives the victim of his or her personal freedom or restricts his or her personal freedom, or commits any criminal acts such as harming and humiliating the victim, shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Law. (10) crime of maltreatment under article 260: “Whoever maltreats a member of his family, if the circumstances are flagrant, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years, criminal detention or public surveillance. Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph and causes serious injury or death to the victim shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than seven years”. (11) crime of abandon under article 261: “Whoever refuses to fulfill his duty to support an aged person, minor, sick person or any other person who cannot live independently, if the circumstances are flagrant, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance”. And so on.