On Human Rights Violations Against Uygur Women In East Turkistan

Abstract

Totalitarian regimes often restrict individual freedoms and are associated with serious human rights violations. These types of regimes typically adopt authoritarian control mechanisms that include censorship, political oppression, arbitrary detentions, torture, and other human rights abuses. The People’s Republic of China, a country with a totalitarian regime, has implemented oppressive measures in East Turkistan with its ‘Firm Policy Against Extremism and Terrorism’ launched in 2014. This Policy includes harsh securitization under the guise of combating terrorism. Since its occupation, the Chinese state has further intensified efforts for Sinicization, integration, and assimilation in East Turkistan. Supported by high technology and strict surveillance, the Policy has accelerated pressure, arbitrary detentions, cultural assimilation, and human rights violations in the region. Additionally, from 2017, internment camps have been used as a new tool for assimilation. The intensification of surveillance and control mechanisms, increased security forces, continuous monitoring of communication tools, and arbitrary use of collected data as criminal evidence have dramatically increased human rights violations in the region. Among those most affected by this policy are the women of East Turkistan. The Chinese government targets Uyghur women in East Turkistan with its new security and anti-terrorism policies, subjecting them to constant surveillance, discipline, and the construction of a compliant female identity. This policy aims to erase the unique identities and existence of Uyghur women, creating compliant and docile citizens. Efforts to reshape the identities of Uyghur women suppress their faith, thoughts, and sexual freedoms, and violate their fundamental human rights. This process deprives people of the rights that guarantee humane living and includes mechanisms of violence aimed at disciplining women in the region.

“This study will briefly focus on the causes of human rights violations encountered by Uyghur women in East Turkistan, the processes and manifestations of these human rights violations, and the attitudes of the global public towards these violations.”