China: New government law guarantees equal land rights for women in the countryside
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 3:10 PM
China has enacted a groundbreaking law to ensure that rural women have equal land rights regardless of their marital status, ending long-standing discriminatory practices that excluded “married-out women” from village land ownership and benefits. From May 1 onwards, the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations will prohibit any individual or group from denying women their rights within rural collectives on the basis of their marital status and will also empower prosecutors to file public interest lawsuits when infringements occur.