5) Description of initiative: The Center is the first non-governmental organization in China dedicated to providing legal assistance to women and conducting research on legal issues facing women, with the broader goals of protecting women’s rights, promoting social justice, and facilitating the development of laws and legal institutions. The Center’s activities and services include: 1.) provision of free legal consultation through a hotline, walk-in visits, the website, email, and the post; 2.) provision of free litigation support and representation in court for cases involving indigent women and those that are particularly complex, representative, and valuable for policy and legal development; 3.) conduct research on the state of women’s rights in China and legal institutions that protect women’s rights, and propose policy and laws to the government; 4.) publicize concepts of gender equality and women’s rights; 5.) promote and expand public interest litigation for women to facilitate the development and implementation of laws and legal institutions.

6) Description of innovation: 1. Although the Chinese government set up a legal aid system, demand for legal services that vastly outpaces supply. The Center has fulfilled some unmet need and has been the model for new organizations. 2. To raise awareness of women’s rights and combat the perception that women’s issues are private concerns, the Center has been actively promoting the understanding of women’s rights as matters of human rights, and women issues as social issues, through outreach and integrating these concepts with litigation and research. 3. With a “big tent” outlook, the Center went above and beyond in the scope and depth of typical legal services, working on issues including women and family, labor rights, and personal rights. Thus, the Center more systematically addresses interrelated social problems, through legal consultation, litigation, and research. This comprehensive method has made the Center a leader among Chinese NGOs. 4. In 2004, the Center began focusing on both individual cases and impact litigation, to provide its services broadly and affect policy. 5. Bringing together a network of experts, activists, and organizations, the Center has achieved greater impact and provided better services for women. In 2004, the Center created three taskforces, focusing on domestic violence, women’s economic rights, and women’s labor rights. These taskforces work with sixty governmental agencies, judicial institutions, NGOs, universities, and media organizations. In 2007, the Center will develop a women’s rights public interests litigation network, the first in China, to further expand its services, research, and policy, and cultivate a corps of lawyers dedicated to women’s rights and public interest litigation. 6. In April 2005, the Center created “Women’s Watch,” which includes both a program and a website and serves as a monitor of women’s issues. “Women’s Watch” collects, analyzes, and disseminates information, providing a voice for Chinese women and encourages discussion.

7) Delivery model: The Center has used several novel ways was to communicate information: 1.) Website. The Center has the first website dedicated to legal services for women, and this site has been complemented by the sites of “Women’s Watch” and the network for women’s rights public interest litigation. These sites enable the Center to provide timely information and efficiently communicate with organizations and individuals around the world. 2.) Network. Establishing the network is one of the key innovations of the Center, allowing it to united organizations and resources and broaden the mission and results of its work. 3.) Mass media. The Center has worked closely with the media to publicize issues and cases, both to promote gender-consciousness and encourage government action. In eleven years, the Center has been featured in more than two thousand articles. 4.) Conferences. To fully utilize the expertise of scholars and facilitate discussion, the Center has frequently and effectively used conferences as a channel of communication. Many other organizations have benefited from these conferences by gaining information, learning about the work and experiences of the Center, and training their staff. 5. Publications. The Center has published nine books on women’s rights, four of which focus on the theory and application of women’s rights and the law.

8) Key operational partnerships: We work closely with the government, law enforcement, courts, other NGOs, the media, and the academic community. Since its early years, the Center has operated with the keen awareness that it needs to connect with other actors and work together on women’s issues. Cooperation and partnerships are key elements of the Center’s approach and the Center’s work has benefited greatly from these relationships. The Center created a network of scholars, comprised of renowned legal experts, scholars in sociology and other fields, functioning as a brain trust for the organization. These partnerships have enabled the Center to expand rapidly and produce excellent results both in litigation and policy.

9) Financial model: The Center is regulated financially by both the Peking University Law School and the Peking University Financial Bureau. The Center complies with all accounting and financial management procedures of the Financial Bureau. The Center undergoes annual review and Center publishes an annual financial report. Additionally, the Center has a board of directors, which oversees the operations and finances of the Center.

          • Costs as percentage of income: 0

          • Financing: The Center has received long-term grants from the Ford Foundation, subject to annual review and evaluation for renewal, to ensure that the services of the Center are provided consistently and in a long-term framework. Also, the Center has cooperated on projects with organizations such as the European Union and UNIFEM, with good results.

10) Effectiveness

          • Project outcomes: The Center has provided free consultation for 60,000 cases, and free litigation support for over 650 indigent clients and over 100 cases of impact litigation. In public interest litigation, the Center focuses on key issues facing women: domestic workers rights, rural women land rights, sexual discrimination and sexual harassment in employment. The Center has produced more than 200 reports and articles and nearly 100 papers. It has also organized more than sixty conferences, and devised more than seventy proposals for national and provincial policy and laws, many of which have been implemented. The Center has published nine books, which have been widely utilized by the public to better understand legal services in China.

          • Number of clients in past year: In 2006, the Center provided consultation to more than 3000 people and litigated more than 60 cases, which involved about 400 individuals.

11) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Scaling Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: The Center has a number of specific goals for its future. 1.) Organizational expansion. The Center’s myriad of projects necessitates additional staff, and the organization plans to add personnel, particularly full- time lawyers. It also plans to involve more young professionals to train them to become future leaders of non-governmental and legal aid work. 2.) Establish, management, and grow the network for women’s rights and public interest litigation. In the next three years, the Center will create a website, train lawyers for public interest work, and organize conferences, so that the network can grow and expand its service and influence. 3.) Further enhance the Center’s ability to provide litigation support and consultation and promote policy through work in public interest litigation.

12) Origin of the initiative: My passion for legal aid and women’s rights comes from my experience and values. Born in an impoverished village in Henan province, I studied at Peking University Law School and worked for the Ministry of Justice, the All-China Women’s Federation, and the All-China Legal Services Federation. These experiences helped me become well- informed of the conditions faced by Chinese women. The time seemed right for action. In April of 1994, the Chinese Women’s Rights Protection Law was enacted, creating a legal foundation of women’s rights. Also in 1994, a government-run legal aid system was set-up. In 1995, the fourth international conference on women was held in Beijing, and I saw the tremendous potential of NGOs in promoting women’s rights. Three months after the conference, I resigned from my job and created the Center. I have remained immersed in the work of helping Chinese women.

Contact Information:
Jianmei  Guo
Director, Lawyer
Peking University Women's Law Studies and Legal Aid Center
(NGO)
Rm 1304, Bldg 3 of Qianhejiayuan, No. 108 Beisihuan Donglu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China
China
Tel: 86-10-84833270, 84833276
Fax: 86-10-84831627
Email: jianmei333@sohu.com
Website: www.woman-legalaid.org.cn