Guo Jianmei (; born March 27, 1960) is a Chinese lawyer, human rights activist and director of a women's legal aid

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. In 2005, she was one of 1000 women put forward as nominees for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

. Guo is the recipient of the 2010

Simone De Beauvoir Prize The Simone de Beauvoir Prize () is an international human rights prize for women's freedom, awarded since 2008 to individuals or groups fighting for gender equality and opposing breaches of human rights. It is named after the French author and phil ...

and the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2011. She received the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

in 2019. She is married to writer

Liu Zhenyun Liu Zhenyun (born May 1958) is a Chinese novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his novel '' Someone to Talk To'' (awarded the 2011 Mao Dun Literature Prize) as well as his involvement with the many film adaptions of his books. Among t ...

Career

Guo was born into a family of peasants in the impoverished region of

Hua County Hua County or Huaxian () is a county under the administration of Anyang City, in the north of Henan province, China. Its predecessor administrative area Huazhou/Hua prefecture was first established in 596 during the Sui dynasty. In 606 it was n ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Province. Seeing the poverty, underdevelopment and violation of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

in both the previous generations of her own family as well as the village where she lived was the stimulus for her lifelong dedication to improving the rights of women in China. When she was 18 Guo attended Law School at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, graduating in 1983. She subsequently worked at the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, The All China Federation of Women and The All China Association of Lawyers. She is currently Executive Director of the Women's Legal Research and Service Centre of the Law School of Beijing University. In 1995, Guo attended the Fourth International Forum for Women Lawyers and the United Nations international World Conference on Women in Beijing. Later that same year, she and others founded the Beijing University Law School Women's Legal Research and Services Centre, the first non-profit-making

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

specializing in women's legal aid in China. The Centre grew to become an influential force in safeguarding the rights and interests of women. In 2010, Beijing University officially disassociated itself from the centre, meaning The Women's Legal Research and Service Centre was no longer affiliated with the university. In 2016 the centre was ordered by the Chinese government to shut down. Guo participated in a revision of China's Marriage Law in 2001 and the enactment of the Regulations for Legal Aid in 2003. She has published 8 books, and is editor of three volumes of the popular law readers' "Everyday Life Law", and "A Guide to Women's Legal Aid Cases".

Achievements

In 2010 Guo Jianmei was awarded the

, and was announced as China's first anti-AIDS discrimination ambassador by

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

, the International Labor Organisation. In 2011 she was awarded the

by the United States Department of State. In 2019 she received the

for her pioneering and persistent work in securing women’s rights in China.

References

External links

US Department of State website

Women’s Legal Research and Service Centre

PeaceWomen Across the Globe

ILO

Guo Jianmei
Video produced by '' Makers: Women Who Make America'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Jianmei 1961 births Living people Chinese women lawyers Chinese human rights activists People from Anyang Weiquan movement Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award