Chen Jianfang
Formerly a farmer, Chen Jianfang began her human rights work after local authorities and developers seized her and her family’s land without adequate compensation. In the last decade, she has been working at grassroots level to defend land and housing rights, promote the rights of vulnerable social groups and expose root causes of systemic rights abuses. She pushes for civil society participation in international human rights mechanisms as well as advocating for its involvement in the monitoring of the government’s implementation of its human rights obligations.
Chinese human rights defenders work across a wide spectrum of issues, engaging with rights violators on numerous levels. Some HRDs work to protect the economic rights of Chinese citizens, advocating for victims of property appropriation, forced demolition, and violation of labour contracts.
