Guo Jianmei, founder of the Beijing Zhongze Women’s Legal Counseling and Service Center, which was forced to close on February 1. Credit Sim Chi Yin for The New York Times

Stand with Guo Jianmei

Last week, The Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services in Beijing was suddenly forced to close its doors. As the first legal aid clinic in China, The Center helped women seek legal protection from domestic violence and land rights and employment disputes with the Chinese government.

This recent incident is just the latest in a string of suppressive acts against civil society in China.  Join us right now to bring attention to these increasing restrictions.

Guo Jianmei, a Global Advisory Council member and 2007 Vital Voices Global Leadership Award Honoree, founded The Center shortly after the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing over two decades ago. Envisioned as a way to promote gender equality and women’s rights in the face of government oppression, The Center has long stood as a pillar for women’s legal representation.

The services provided by The Center are desperately needed in China. In a country where women’s economic and social rights are severely restricted, Guo Jianmei helped to provide poor women with access to legal advice in order to create safer and better lives for themselves and their families. With The Center’s closing on February 1, its beneficiaries have lost a vital avenue for finding justice.

Guo Jianmei needs our support. We cannot sit idly by and watch decades of progress toward a more equitable China be undermined and reversed.

Join us now. Pledge your support of Guo Jianmei, The Center and the Chinese women who so desperately need these services.

This is how you can help.

1.)   Sign our petition to bring recognition to the restriction of women’s rights in China.

2.)   Raise your voice and join the global community in supporting The Center using #GuoJianmei.

3.)   Support Vital Voices where Guo Jianmei serves as a Global Advisory Council member and agent of change for women in China.

Will you sign to support Guo Jianmei and preserve women’s rights in China?