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) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

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

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

. Guo is the recipient of the 2010

Simone De Beauvoir Prize The Simone de Beauvoir Prize (french: Prix Simone de Beauvoir pour la liberté des femmes) 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 ...

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 v ...

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 th ...

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 ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Province. Seeing the poverty, underdevelopment and violation of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and 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 centuries. In some countries, ...

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 research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

, graduating in 1983. She subsequently worked at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

, 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) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

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 the first and ol ...

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

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

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