Chinese NPC deputies are calling for the clampdown on various forms of gender discrimination and maltreatment of women, as the International Women's Day falls on Wednesday.

Mentioning rampant extramarital love affairs, domestic violence, sexual harassment and career gender discrimination, deputies attending the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, said that more efforts should be made to prevent women from unfair treatment.

Many married men indulge themselves in having one or more lovers, who make up de facto wedlock and challenge the legally enforced monogamy.

Unofficial sources show that 95 percent of government and Party officials convicted of corruption had lovers.

Of all the divorce cases handled by a county court in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, 34.5 percent were involved in extramarital affairs.

Extramarital relations not only infringe upon women's dignity and harm family concord, but also exert negative effect on the young generations, some NPC deputies said, adding that extramarital affairs should be subject to legal penalty rather than mere moral condemnation if they induce family problems.

China added provisions banning sexual harassment in the Law on Women's Rights Protection last year, but infringement has not been effectively contained, said Sun Shujun, an NPC deputy.

Concrete measures should be made to protect women from various physical and mental harassment, said Sun, calling on women to bravely safeguard their rights by all legal means.

In addition, it is unfair to impose discrimination on women in the job market, said Wang Xianzhen, another NPC deputy. Statistics from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security show that 67 percent of work units in 62 surveyed cities had specific regulations concerning gender restrictions or even banning pregnancy during female employees' contractual serving term.

Many enterprises offer fewer job opportunities to female applicants, worrying about higher expenses if they get married or have babies. However, China's labor law requires that employers ensure the salary of female workers during such special periods.

Lawmakers also called for specific and effective measures to protect women from being abused at home, as China's legal system has no clear definition of domestic violence, nor specific penalties.

Domestic violence occurs in about three out of 10 families, normally with women being the victims, according to a report released recently by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

People used to take domestic violence for granted, considering it a household issue rather than a legal affair.

Women's social status has been enhanced to great extent since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 as the government insists on equality between men and women. However, unfair treatment to women rises amid rapid economic and social development in recent years.

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2006)