Government Improves Anti-Domestic Violence Efforts; Victim Protection Remains Limited

December 20, 2008

In order to provide better protection to domestic violence victims, four Ministries (Public Security, Civil Affairs, Health, and Justice), one Party-controlled organization (All-China Women's Federation), the Party's Central Propaganda Department, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the Opinions on Preventing and Deterring Domestic Violence (Opinions) on July 31, 2008.

In order to provide better protection to domestic violence victims, four Ministries (Public Security, Civil Affairs, Health, and Justice), one Party-controlled organization (All-China Women's Federation), the Party's Central Propaganda Department, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the Opinions on Preventing and Deterring Domestic Violence (Opinions) on July 31, 2008. Highlights in the Opinions include: requiring public security officers to respond to complaints made through the "110" telephone emergency hotline (Article 8); requiring hospitals and healthcare workers to undergo training programs to prevent and curb domestic violence (Article 11); and requesting All-China Women's Federation offices to establish domestic violence hotlines (Article 13). The Opinions appear to increase the government's responsibility in handling domestic violence cases, according to an article published by the organization West Women on September 9.

To ensure the safety of domestic violence victims involved in cases pending before a court, the Institute of Applied Laws under the Supreme People's Court also issued the Court Guidance on Cases Involving Domestic Violence in Marriage (Guidance, partially reprinted on Divorce Net) in May. Article 27 of the Guidance advises courts to issue protection orders to "prohibit offenders from beating, threatening, harassing, or stalking victims, or having unwelcome contact with the victims and their children," and if necessary, to require offenders to receive psychological therapy. Such protection orders can also order offenders to "temporarily move out of their residences, if necessary and if the cases meet qualifications." In addition, the Guidance provides that "during the effective period of the protection order, no party should handle valuable marital properties."

According to reports in the Legal Daily (reprinted in Xinhua) on August 18, the People's Daily (English translation by All-China Women's Federation) on October 10, and the Chongqing Times (reprinted in the Chongqing Municipal People's Government Web site) on October 23, the Guidance has resulted in at least six protection orders issued by courts to prohibit spousal intimidation in the provinces of Jiangsu and Hunan, and Chongqing city in August, September, and October of this year. According to these reports, these are the first court orders issued to protect personal safety in civil cases.

According to All-China Women's Federation, the number of domestic violence complaints averaged 40,000 per year from 2005 to 2007, up from 20,000 in 2000, as reported in China Daily on November 25. One-third of China's 267 million families have witnessed domestic violence, and 94 percent of domestic violence victims are women, according to the same report.

Current laws regulating domestic violence appear to be incomplete and inconsistent, and appear to reflect the government's reluctance to intervene in domestic violence disputes, according to experts' analysis that appeared in a November 27 Women's Watch-China article. The revised Marriage Law in April 2001 was one of the first legal documents with references to domestic violence, according to the November 27 article. Article 46 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, as amended in 2005, mandates that "the state take measures to prevent and deter domestic violence." Domestic violence offenders are punishable under Articles 234, 236, and 260 of the Criminal Law, and Article 43 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law. China's Civil Procedure Law also allows victims to file civil lawsuits against offenders. At least 69 local regulations contain references to the prevention and prohibition of domestic violence, according to the People's Daily (English translation by All-China Women's Federation) on October 10. Nevertheless, scholars indicate that current laws and regulations are difficult to implement because laws and judicial interpretations are too abstract or narrow, and do not assign clear and concrete legal responsibilities, according to a May 16 article in the Shenzhen Lawyer's Net (reprinted in Women's Watch-China).

Advocates continue to call for national legislation on domestic violence. The Party-controlled All-China Women's Federation has expressed its support for an anti-domestic violence law during the 2009 National People's Congress, as reported in the Legal Daily (reprinted in the Guijing Net) on October 8. A proposal reportedly was submitted to the National People's Congress in March 2008, according to a March 16 report in the Procuratorial Daily (reprinted in China News).

For more information about the discussion on domestic violence, see Section II - Status of Women in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2008 Annual Report.