Wuhan Nationalist government

Formation of the Wuhan government

In addition to peasants' organizations, United Front campaigners also helped found a number of women's associations. In Henan and Hubei dozens of women's associations were established as branches of county peasant associations. At a conference in Wuhan on International Women's Day, 1927, female revolutionaries laid out the goals of the women's movement. They demanded an end to foot-binding, increased female literacy, job opportunities for women, and an end to the patriarchal family structure. This last demand included women's right to get married and divorced as she chose, as well as bans on polygamy, concubinage, and child marriages. Most of these demands were granted by the Wuhan Nationalist government. Conference attendees from the countryside brought the message home, leading to some changes in the treatment of women there as well as in the cities.