1. Mao’s Domestic Policies – Part 2

2. Role of Women in Communist China
In pre-communist China, women were:
Considered inferior to men
Excluded from political life
Robbed of property and inheritance rights
Forced to obey their fathers before marriage, their husbands after marriage, and their sons if they became widowed
Deprived of the right to receive an education and take part in social activities
Matched with a mate and were not allowed to remarry if their spouse died
Subjected to polygamy and prostitution
Subjected to “foot binding”

3. Role of Women in Communist China
In war by Japan against China from , most of the over 30 million Chinese who were brutally killed were women and children. Within a month after the Japanese troops occupied Nanking, they committed over 20,000 rapes
For the women of China, the founding of the People's Republic of China ended the thousands of years of feudal oppression and enslavement

4. Role of Women in Communist China
After the founding of Communist China, there was a movement throughout the country to quickly change the customs that discriminated against and humiliated women
This effected an earth-shaking historic change in the social status and condition of women
In 1949, The Common Program was adopted (like a constitution)
It ended the feudal system and stated that women enjoyed equal rights with men in the political, economic, cultural and educational fields and in other aspects of social life

5. Role of Women in Communist China
Ban on prostitution –
In 1949, the municipal government of Beijing immediately:
Closed all brothels
Gathered prostitutes in designated places where they could be educated and reformed
Receive treatment for venereal diseases
Be provided with guidance to help women start normal lives and support themselves through work
Most other areas of China followed suit

6. Role of Women in Communist China
In 1950, The Marriage Law declared the abolition of the feudal marriage system characterized by arranged and forced marriage, male superiority and female inferiority, and disregard for the interests of children
Following months of publicity of the new law, this action resulted in the annulment of numerous feudal engagements, a rapid reduction in domestic abuse and maltreatment, and an increase in freely chosen love marriages

7. Role of Women in Communist China
Land reform – Rural women obtained land, just like their male counterparts, and became masters of their piece of soil
Universal balloting – In 1953, The Electoral Law of the People's Republic of China stipulated that women enjoy the same rights to vote and stand for election as men
The move out of the home – In 1957, around 70 percent of rural women engaged in agricultural work, and the number of urban women workers and staff reached million, representing a 5.5-fold increase over 1949

8. Role of Women in Communist China
Illiteracy eradication campaign – Various literacy classes, popular evening schools and workers' spare-time schools mushroomed in both rural and urban areas, and women attended these in their millions. By 1958, 16 million women had learned to read

9. Treatment of Religious Groups
Mao was concerned about the Vatican, especially its ability to command allegiance beyond national boundaries
He used a fake assassination plot to take over all Catholic institutions
A smear campaign accused Catholic priests and nuns of murder, cannibalism, and medical experiments on babies
Hundreds of Chinese Catholics were executed and many foreign priests suffered physical abuse
In general, religious and quasi-religious organizations were suppressed or brought under tight control

10. Treatment of Minorities
Order-Keeping Committees were formed everywhere
They kept an eye on everyone, not just political suspects and petty criminals
The regime also gave everyone a fixed job and place of residence
He intended most of the population, even women and children, to witness violence and killing to scare the population

11. Treatment of Minorities
Laogai – means reform through labor
Back-breaking labor in the most hostile wastelands and down the most contaminating mines, while being harassed incessantly
Many were executed and some committed suicide

12. Laogai in China

14. Laogai slave labor camps still exist today

17. Treatment of Minorities
Three-Antis (1951) & Five-Antis (1952)
Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957)
Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957 & 1959)
The Cultural Revolution (1966–76)

18. Treatment of Minorities
Purges from (2 million died); Cultural Revolution (1 mil died); Laogoi – forced labor camps (20 mil died); Great Leap Forward – forced collectivization (30-40 mil)
Millions were injured
Many committed suicide
Many suffered torture and physical/emotional abuse

19. Party leaders accused of supporting capitalism are first put on public display, and then are executed

20. Mass executions and the parading of those due to be killed through the streets have been methods employed since the earliest days of communist China

21. Human Rights Abuses Continue In China Today

22. Muslims Are Not Allowed to Practice Their Religion