Domestic violence in China

Domestic violence in China involves violence or abuse by intimate partners or family members against one another. Intimate partner violence (IPV) by the man is the most common type of domestic violence in China: a 2005 American Journal of Public Health report found that 1 out of 5 Chinese women had experienced physical violence from their partner in the past year.[1] Although China acknowledged that domestic violence was a problem in the 1930s,[2] it has only become a visible issue in the past few decades due to economic and social changes in the 1980s.[3]

Domestic violence is legally defined in Article 2 of the Domestic Violence Law of 2015 as "physical, psychological or other infractions between family members effected through the use of methods such as beatings, restraints, maiming, restrictions on physical liberty as well as recurrent verbal abuse or intimidation."[4] Although the legal definition is confined to family members, domestic violence can also occur between unmarried, LGBT, and other domestic couples.[5]

History and Causes

Traditional family dynamics

Historically, Chinese families followed a hierarchical structure in which the husband had authority over most household decisions. This patriarchal ordering has its roots in Confucianism, which establishes codes of conduct for women that typically place her below the husband.[6] In particular, the Three Obediences and Four Virtues call for the wife to obey her father, husband, and son while maintaining a modest and moral lifestyle.[6] While Confucianism also advocates for social harmony and peace, beating one's wife was considered an appropriate way to discipline her.[7] As the household was the man's domain, any violence he committed against his wife was generally seen as his family's private matter and subsequently disregarded.[8]

As a consequence of the hierarchical structure, the husband has traditionally been the main provider for the family while the wife has been the caretaker—this relationship was even apparent in the Chinese language, as one of the traditional characters for a woman (婦女, funu) depicts a woman cleaning with a broom.[7][9] Having only a "reproductive" role in the family, the wife was typically dependent on the husband and therefore unable to protest or leave when she was beaten.[3] Moreover, the act of protesting against one's husband not only disrupted the social harmony of the family, but also demonstrated a lack of obedience and modesty—if a wife were to leave her husband, she would dishonor her family and provoke the disdain of the community.[7]

Recent history

All-China Women's Federation

In the early 20th century, wife-beating was still a regularly occurring practice and deemed to be an acceptable tool to assert male dominance.[10] Although there were organizations such as the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) established by the Communist Party of China, these state-established organizations did not exert much effort on domestic violence issues in the mid 20th century.[11]

Following the 1980s, a mixture of factors including China's increasing international presence, improved academic and employment opportunities for women, and a more open political climate led to strengthened efforts to address domestic violence and, in particular, violence against women.[12] A large factor for this change was China's involvement in various United Nations conferences geared towards women and family issues in the 1990s.[13] The World Conference on Women hosted in China in 1995, in particular, allowed Chinese activists to come in contact with numerous international women's organizations and openly discuss the issue of domestic violence.[14][15] During this period, grassroots women's organizations such as the Women's Research Institute were being founded, breaking into a field of activism that only the ACWF historically occupied.[14]

As public awareness of the domestic violence issue grew, initial studies on domestic violence began to appear. Different studies by the ACWF, the Beijing Institute of Marriage and Family, the Population Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and other organizations reported rates from 1.6% of women to approximately a quarter of women that were beaten by their husbands at some point. As no studies were available to compare these numbers to prior to the 1980s, it was difficult to make qualitative assessments on the varying results; however, researchers were doubtful that these figures were an accurate representation of the scale of domestic violence in China.[16]

Form and Effects

Prevention

Domestic violence was first mentioned in the 1995 National Program for the Development of Women, which called for the prevention of domestic violence to be a large priority.[17] Although this was the first time in which domestic violence was explicitly mentioned, it had already been made implicitly illegal by various legal documents. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China, the Second Marriage Law of 1980, and the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests all contain provisions that prohibit the abuse of women and family members in general.[17] Even though domestic violence had been implicitly and then officially illegal, in reality there were no mechanisms through which abused women could seek legal reparations in the 20th century.

Law

Marriage Law amendment in 2001

The first form of legal defense for victims of domestic violence appeared in the 2001 amendment to the Second Marriage Law.[18] In a judicial interpretation of the law, the Supreme People's Court legally defined domestic violence as "behavior towards a family member that results in injurious consequences physically, emotionally, or in other ways by 'beating, tying up, injuring, forcibly restricting one's personal freedom, or by other means.'"[19] The amendment included three important changes:

• Article 32(3)(2) holds that if mediation fails, divorce will be allowed if there are instances of family violence, maltreatment, or abandonment.
• Article 43 calls on the neighborhood committee or villagers committee to mediate cases of family violence, take measures to stop the violence, and impose administrative penalties on the offender.
• Article 46(3) and (4) grants the victim of domestic violence the right to claim compensation.[20]

The 2005 amendments to the Women's Protection Law affirmed the steps taken in the Marriage Law amendments. In particular, the amendments to the Women's Protection Law took it one step forward and explicitly stated in Article 46 that "Domestic violence against women is prohibited."[21]

Domestic Violence Law of 2015

In November 2014, Chinese legislators drafted China's first domestic violence law. The law was passed by Parliament in July 2015, and took effect on March 1, 2016.[5][22] The law reaffirms the advancements made in previous laws and offers a few novel provisions:

• Article 6 emphasizes the need for more publicity and education on the issue in schools and in the media.
• Article 19 calls for legal aid organizations to provide legal aid to victims of domestic violence and for courts to "delay, reduce, or waive litigation fees for victims of domestic violence in accordance with law."
• Article 21 empowers courts to revoke guardianship and appoint another guardian in cases of child abuse (and requires offenders to continue to provide financial support).
• Article 23 allows victims of domestic violence to apply for a personal safety protection order (the equivalent of a restraining order).
• Article 37 expands the law to cover domestic violence between persons who are not family members.[4]

Other Efforts

Legal Services and Governmental Entities

According to the report published in 2017 on the implementation of the Domestic Violence Law of 2015, there are more than 2,000 shelter locations provided for victims of domestic violence across the country. However, most of these shelters are not very well-equipped for providing assistance to the victims often because they do not have the resources to the basic needs of victims or the staff is not knowledgeable enough about how to help domestic violence victims.[23]

Some social work service centers, women-rights organizations, and women and children legal support centers also provided shelter and legal support to victims and/or launched local campaigns against domestic violence.[23]

Anti-domestic Violence Grassroots Campaigns

2012

On Valentine's Day of 2012, a few Chinese feminism activists, including Li Tingting, dressed up as brides on streets in Beijing wearing wedding dresses with stains to represent blood and wearing heavy make-up as if they were beaten. Some of them also help billboards with slogans against domestic violence.[24] In December 2012, more young Chinese women rights activists went on the street to protest against domestic violence in a similar fashion in five major Chinese cities including Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, and Dongguan.[25][26] Later in 2013 and 2014, similar performance arts were also performed on the street in other cities including Zhengzhou, Yunnan, and Shenzhen.[25] Historically, they are all together called "The Bloody Brides" campaign.

Incidence and Statistics

While violence against women is the most common manifestation of domestic violence, it is not the only form. Domestic violence includes violence against any member within a household by a relative or partner. A 2004 survey by the ACWF found that 16% of families experiences male-on-female violence, whereas 30% of families had experienced domestic violence in general.[27] In more recent years, the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the Third Survey of Social Status of Women by the ACWF reported that in the year of 2010 alone, 24.7% of women aged between 24 and 60 experienced domestic violence in different forms in year of 2010 alone and the ACWF received about 40,000 - 50,000 complaints about domestic violence.[23]

Children

See also: Child abuse

With respect to children, domestic violence in China is a largely ignored issue due to the nebulous distinction between discipline and child abuse. Although a more common sentiment prior to the 1980s, the saying "beating is caring and scolding is intimacy" still holds traction for some families.[8] A study of Hong Kong minors in May 1998 found that 52.9% of Chinese families experienced instances of minor violence (throwing objects, pushing, slapping) against children, and 46.1% of Chinese families experienced instances of severe violence (kicking, punching, threatening or beating with a weapon).[28] A 2001 survey by the China Law Society corroborated these results, finding that 71.9% of the 3543 people surveyed had been beaten by their parents when they were children.[29]

The Hong Kong study further found that children aged 3–6 were most likely to suffer from child abuse, and boys were more likely to suffer from severe violence by their parents than girls. The likelihood of physical abuse also increased if a child had no siblings. These trends largely reflect the interconnected relationship between abuse and discipline in Chinese families—parents generally see sons and single children as the future of the household and are consequently more strict with their upbringing.[30] Despite its prevalence, child abuse is taken relatively lightly in the Chinese legal system. In 1998, child maltreatment cases comprised 0.29% of all cases for the people's court in Beijing.[31]

Gender differences

See also: Domestic violence against men

A 2004 International Family Planning Perspectives survey found that, including mutual violence, 34% of respondents had experienced male-on-female violence and 18% had experienced female-on-male violence. In addition, 12% of women and 5% of men reported suffering severe violence.[32] In a 2008 meta-study of various studies on IPV, 19.7% of women were found to have experienced violence by their male partners at some point, while 16.8% of women experienced violence in the past year. Similarly, approximately 10% of women had experienced sexual violence at some point in their life, while 5.4% of women experienced sexual violence in the past year.[33] Men are also more likely than women to acknowledge that the wife had suffered violence in their relationship, which attests to the general under reporting phenomenon with male-on-female violence.[34] Domestic violence also increased with sexual jealousy, with male-on-female violence becoming more likely if the woman was jealous and mutual hitting more likely if the man was jealous.[34]

Regional differences

Compared to the 15% of women in urban settings, 28.3% of women in rural settings reported violence by a male partner. Moreover, while younger age increased the likelihood of abuse for women in urban settings, greater age was found to correlate with the likelihood of abuse for women in rural areas.[35] Domestic violence was also found to be more likely in central areas and the North than in the South, with rates of 22%, 14%, and 11% respectively. Female-on-male violence was found to be more prominent in the North than in other areas.[34]

See also

• Women in China
• Crime in China
• Domestic violence
• Intimate partner violence

References

1. Xu, Xiao; Zhu, Fengchuan; O'Campo, Patricia; Koenig, Michael A.; Mock, Victoria; Campbell, Jacquelyn (2005). "Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence in China". American Journal of Public Health. 95 (1): 78–85. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2003.023978. PMC 1449856. PMID 15623864.
2. Milwertz, Cecilia (2003). "Activism Against Domestic Violence in the People's Republic of China". Violence Against Women. 9 (6): 630–654. doi:10.1177/1077801203009006002.
3. Tang, Catherine So-Kum; Lai, Beatrice Pui-Yee (2008). "A Review of Empirical Literature on the Prevalence and Risk Markers of Male-on-Female Intimate Partner Violence in Contemporary China, 1987–2006". Aggression and Violent Behavior. 13 (1): 10–28. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2007.06.001.
4. Domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China, unofficial English translation.
5. Leggett, Angela (2016). "Online Civic Engagement and the Anti-Violence Movement in China: Shifting and Influencing Law". International Society for Third-Sector Research. 28 (5): 1–27. doi:10.1007/s11266-016-9680-9.
6. Xu, Xiaohe (1997). "The Prevalence and Determination of Wife Abuse in Urban China". Journal of Comparative Family Studies. 28 (3): 280–303. JSTOR 41603520.
7. Liu, Meng; Chan, Cecila (1999). "Enduring Violence and Staying in Marriage: Stories of Battered Women in Rural China". Violence Against Women. 5 (12): 1469–1492. doi:10.1177/10778019922183471.
8. Xu et al. 2005, p. 78
9. Liu, Lydia; Karl, Rebecca; Ko, Dorothy (12 March 2013). The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory (pp. 114). New York: Columbia University Press.
10. Gilmartin, C. (1990). Violence against women in contemporary China. In J. Lipman & S. Harrell (Eds.), Violence in China: Essays in culture and counterculture (pp. 209). New York: State University of New York Press.
11. Milwertz 2003, p. 630
12. Tang et al. 2008, p. 12
13. Milwertz 2003, p. 636
14. Zhang, Lu (21 June 2009). "Domestic violence network in China: Translating the transnational concept of violence against women into local action". Women's Studies International Forum. 32 (3): 227–239. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2009.05.017.
15. Tang et al 2008, p. 14
16. Milwertz 2003, p. 637
17. Zhao, Yuhong (2000). "Domestic Violence in China: In Search of Legal and Social Responses". UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal. 18 (2): 211–251.
18. He, Xin; Ng, Kwai Hang (2013). "In the Name of Harmony: The Erasure of Domestic Violence in China's Judicial Mediation". International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. 30 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1093/lawfam/ebs014.
19. Wang, X. (2004). ‘Domestic violence’ in China in T. Jie, Z. Bijun and S. L. Mow (eds), Holding up Half the Sky: Chinese Women Past, Present, and Future, New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 179–192.
20. Xuejun, Zhang (2002). "Amendment of the Marriage Law in China". International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. 16 (3): 399–499. doi:10.1093/lawfam/16.3.399.
21. Palmer, Michael (2007). "On China's Slow Boat to Women's Rights: Revisions to the Women's Protection Law, 2005". The International Journal of Human Rights. 11 (1–2): 151–177. doi:10.1080/13642980601176316.
22. Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (7 March 2016). "Year After Detentions, Chinese Feminists Mark Setbacks and Progress". The New York Times. retrieved 22 May 2016.
23. "《中华人民共和国反对家庭暴力法》实施监测报告发布--人民网公益频道--人民网". gongyi.people.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
24. "北京女大学生情人节发起行为艺术反对伴侣暴力 - 中文国际". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
25. "重说"受伤的新娘"、"带血的婚纱"行为艺术_荣维毅_新浪博客". blog.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
26. "五城市女青年以"染血的婚纱"行为艺术反对家庭暴力-浙江新闻-浙江在线". zjnews.zjol.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
27. U.S. Department of State. "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006: China, (2007)". (accessed on May 12, 2016)
28. Tang, Catherine So-kum (May 1998). "The Rate of Physical Child Abuse in Chinese Families: A Community Survey in Hong Kong" Child Abuse & Neglect 22 (5): 381–391. dos:10.1016/S0145-2134(98)00010-6
29. Qiao, D.P.; Chan, Y.C. (2005). "Child Abuse in China: a Yet-to-Be-Acknowledged 'Social Problem' in the Chinese Mainland". Child & Family Social Work. 10 (1): 21–27. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2005.00347.x. hdl:10397/29677.
30. Tang 1998, p. 388
31. Qiao et al. 2005, p.23
32. Parish, William L. (2004). "Intimate Partner Violence in China: National Prevalence, Risk Factors and Associated Health Problems". International Family Planning Perspectives. 30 (4): 174–181. doi:10.1363/3017404. PMID 15590383.
33. Tang et al. 2008, p. 22
34. Parish et al. 2004, p. 177
35. Tang et al. 2008, p. 23