The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF; ) is a women's rights people's organization established in China on 24 March 1949. It was originally called the All-China Democratic Women's Foundation, and was renamed the All-China Women's Federation in 1957. It has acted as the official leader of the women’s movement in China since its founding. It is responsible for promoting government policies on women, and protecting women’s rights within the government, while liberating them from traditional norms within society and involving them in social revolution with the aim to promote their overall status and welfare in Chinese society. As a united political community, women in the ACWF achieved political momentum, power among the male elite, and required representation. History Pre-1949: Women’s movement prior to the CCP and predecessors The early women’s movement in China focused on eradicating the assumption that women were inferior to men. The early reformers believed that women needed help to improve their own attitudes about themselves, since even the women generally considered themselves to be inferior to men. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had shown an early interest in protecting the rights of women. During the 2nd National Congress in 1922, the party issued a statement arguing for the end of Chinese traditions that repress women. They also released a formal letter ensuring equality under the law for both men and women, and guaranteed equal pay for both genders during the 3rd National Congress. When the CCP entered the First United Front to fight warlords and unite China from 1924 to 1927 with the Kuomintang (KMT), each party established their own women’s department during this time. However, the United Front ended with the White Terror (1927), where the KMT launched an attack to purge communists and laborers. The ideas about liberating Chinese women from Confucian values were only permitted within the territory under CCP rule. These territories were called soviets, and were the places the CCP fled to following the White Terror because they were not under the control of the KMT. The KMT championed traditional Confucian ideals about women, and they established the New Life Movement, which sought to counter the gender role espoused by the CCP with traditional Confucian gender roles supported by the KMT. The CCP's time in the soviets from 1927 to 1945 also gave them the opportunity to develop the skills for organizing federations and governing, which greatly facilitated the founding of the