Form and effects
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023) |
| Part of a series on |
| Violence against women |
|---|
| Killing |
| Sexual assault and rape |
| Disfigurement |
| Other issues |
| International legal framework |
| Related topics |
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 4 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 affected 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] Domestic violence is a prevalent issue throughout China, with rural areas being particularly affected. The majority of women enduring domestic violence, accounting for 40% of cases in China, reside in rural regions. Despite the government's ongoing initiatives to eliminate poverty, rural areas continue to grapple with elevated poverty rates, which consequently amplify the risk factors associated with domestic violence. [6]
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 places them below their husbands. [7] 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. [7] While Confucianism also advocates for social harmony and peace, beating one's wife was considered an appropriate way to discipline her. [8] 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. [9]
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 (Simplified Chinese: 妇女; Traditional Chinese: 婦女; Pinyin: fù nǚ) depicts a woman cleaning with a broom. [8] [10] 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. [8]
In the early 20th century, wife-beating was still a regularly occurring practice and deemed to be an acceptable tool to assert male dominance. [11] Although there were organizations such as the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) established by the Chinese Communist Party, these state-established organizations did not exert much effort on domestic violence issues in the mid 20th century. [12]
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. [13] This included local initiatives, such as the work of Liang Jun, who campaigned against domestic violence, particularly in rural communities in the 1980s. [14]
A large factor for this change was China's involvement in various United Nations conferences geared towards women and family issues in the 1990s. [15] 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. [16] [17] 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. [16]
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. [18]
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023) |
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. [19] 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. [19] 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.
The first form of legal defense for victims of domestic violence appeared in the 2001 amendment to the Second Marriage Law. [20] 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.'" [21] The amendment included three important changes:
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." [23]
In November 2014, the State Council proposed China's first domestic violence law. The law was passed by Parliament in July 2015, and took effect on March 1, 2016. [5] [24] The law reaffirms the advancements made in previous laws and offers a few novel provisions:
In an effort to combat the nation's increasing divorce rates, the mandatory divorce "cooling-off period" (Simplified Chinese: 冷静期; Traditional Chinese: 冷靜期; Pinyin: lěng jìng qī) was implemented by the Chinese government on January 1, 2021. [25] It is part of China's first ever civil code, passed by the National People's Congress on May 29, 2020. [26] The civil code requires Chinese couples filing for consensual divorce to wait 30 days in order to rethink their decision to apply. [25] According to its creators, the purpose of the "cooling-off period" is to discourage impulsive divorces, especially for couples with young children. [27] Requests for divorce are not processed until the 30 days is over.
Articles 1076, 1077, and 1078 of the Civil Code stipulate the following:
Although the "cooling-off period" does not apply to spouses seeking divorce due to domestic violence or extramarital affairs, [25] it has received criticism for not protecting women from their husbands' domestic abuse. Prominent Chinese feminist Li Tingting believes that the law has the potential to harm women's rights, as the rate of determination of domestic violence in divorce cases is low in judicial practice. [26] Additionally, users online on platforms such as Weibo also expressed frustration with the government's involvement in private interpersonal relationships, using the hashtag "oppose the divorce cool-off period". [29]
In 2022, China's highest court issued guidelines [30] that make it easier for domestic violence victims to obtain personal protection orders. [31] The guidelines broadens the definition of domestic violence to include additional conduct such as stalking, harassment, and verbal abuse; it also lowers the threshold for proof. [31]
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. [32]
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. [32]
On Valentine's Day of 2012, a group of Chinese feminist activists, including Li Tingting, dressed up as brides on streets in Beijing wearing wedding dresses with red stains to represent blood and wearing heavy make-up as if they were beaten. Some of them also held up signs with slogans against domestic violence. [33] In December 2012, more young Chinese women's rights activists went on the street to protest against domestic violence in a similar fashion in five major Chinese cities: Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, and Dongguan. [34] Later in 2013 and 2014, similar performances occurred on the street in other cities including Zhengzhou, Yunnan, and Shenzhen. Historically, they are collectively referred to as "The Bloody Brides" campaign. [35]
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.
In terms of detailed statistics, though the ACWF and the National Bureau of Statistics of China release reports on domestic violence issues revealing the number of cases and victims, there currently is no well-organized official database. News and related articles calling for more attention, even in official news reports by the ACWF use the same statistics repeatedly while up-to-date surveys are conducted with joint efforts.
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. [36] 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 and the ACWF received about 40,000 - 50,000 complaints about domestic violence. [32] These incidents continue despite laws against domestic violence due to deeply rooted patriarchal norms in Chinese society.
A 2021 report from the State Council of People's Republic of China on anti-domestic violence work revealed that the proportion of women suffering from both physical and mental impacts of domestic violence in marriage has dropped to 8.6%, from 13.8% in 2010.
The ACWF released its latest data on domestic violence along with the National Bureau of Statistics of China in 2022, where the reported filed cases related to domestic violence rose to 94,571. The proportion of families undertaking the influence of domestic violence still hovers at a level of 30%, among a total of 270 million families in China. Over 100 thousand families "have been destructed" due to domestic violence each year over the past decade. In the filed cases, 70% of the victims combine both female member and the child who undertook violence from the male member in the family of three to four. [37]
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. [9] 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). [38] 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. [39]
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. [40] 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. [41]
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. [42] 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. [43] 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. [44] Domestic violence also increased with sexual jealousy, with male-on-female violence becoming more likely if the woman was jealous and mutual hitting was more likely if the man was jealous. [44]
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. [45] 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. [44]
A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation often involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.
Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Battered woman syndrome (BWS) is a pattern of signs and symptoms displayed by a woman who has suffered persistent intimate partner violence: whether psychological, physical, or sexual, from her male partner. It is classified in the ICD-9 as battered person syndrome, but is not in the DSM-5. It may be diagnosed as a subcategory of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Victims may exhibit a range of behaviors, including self-isolation, suicidal thoughts, and substance abuse, and may also display signs of physical injury or illness, such as bruises, broken bones, or chronic fatigue.
The conflict tactics scale (CTS), created by Murray A. Straus in 1979, is used in the research of family violence." There are two versions of the CTS; the CTS2 and the CTSPC. As of 2005, the CTS has been used in about 600 peer reviewed scientific or scholarly papers, including longitudinal birth-cohort studies. National surveys conducted in the USA include two National Family Violence Surveys, the National Violence Against Women Survey (1998), which, according to Straus, used a "feminist version" of the CTS in order to minimize data on female perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV), and the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. A major international survey to use the CTS was the 2006 International Dating Violence Study, which investigated IPV amongst 13,601 college students across thirty-two different countries.
Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, at all levels of economic status; however, indicators of lower socioeconomic status have been shown to be risk factors for higher levels of domestic violence in several studies. In the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1995, women reported a six times greater rate of intimate partner violence than men. However, studies have found that men are much less likely to report victimization in these situations.
The Lei Maria da Penha, officialy Law No. 11,340 of 7 August 2006, targets gender based violence in Brazil, with the specific aim of reducing domestic violence in the country. Sanctioned on 7 August 2006 by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and subsequently implemented on 22 September 2006, the law is an important contribution to an international movement of criminalizing violence against women. The name of the law is an homage to the Brazilian activist Maria da Penha Maia a victim of domestic violence.
Like women in many other cultures, women in China have been historically oppressed. For thousands of years, women in China lived under the patriarchal social order characterized by the Confucius teaching of "filial piety". In modern China, the lives of women have changed significantly due to the late Qing dynasty reforms, the changes of the Republican period, the Chinese Civil War, and the rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Domestic violence is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. Domestic violence is often used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by one of the people in an intimate relationship against the other person, and can take place in relationships or between former spouses or partners. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against children, parents, or the elderly. It can assume multiple forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, financial abuse, or sexual abuse. It can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and other violent physical abuse, such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that may result in disfigurement or death, and includes the use of technology to harass, control, monitor, stalk or hack. Domestic murder includes stoning, bride burning, honor killing, and dowry death, which sometimes involves non-cohabitating family members. In 2015, the United Kingdom's Home Office widened the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control.
The status and social roles of women in Mali have been formed by the complex interplay of a variety of traditions in ethnic communities, the rise and fall of the great Sahelien states, French colonial rule, independence, urbanisation, and postcolonial conflict and progress. Forming just less than half Mali's population, Malian women have sometimes been the center of matrilineal societies, but have always been crucial to the economic and social structure of this largely rural, agricultural society.
Traditionally, women in Hong Kong have been situated within the context of Chinese family and society, in which they were treated the same as Mainland women or Taiwanese women. However, there are cultural differences between Mainland Chinese citizens and citizens of Hong Kong. During the British colonial period, the emergence of Western culture created a mix of traditional Chinese culture and Western values. This created a unique culture of Hong Kong. Along with the rapid economic and social development of Hong Kong since the end of the Second World War, there has been a significant improvement in the social status of women. However, the male-dominant social structure still persists in some aspects of women's lives.
Domestic violence in United States is a form of violence that occurs within a domestic relationship. Although domestic violence often occurs between partners in the context of an intimate relationship, it may also describe other household violence, such as violence against a child, by a child against a parent or violence between siblings in the same household. It is recognized as an important social problem by governmental and non-governmental agencies, and various Violence Against Women Acts have been passed by the US Congress in an attempt to stem this tide.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to domestic violence:
Domestic violence against men is violence or other physical abuse towards men in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. As with domestic violence against women, violence against men may constitute a crime, but laws vary between jurisdictions. Intimate partner violence (IPV) against men is generally less recognized by society than intimate partner violence against women, which can act as a further block to men reporting their situation.
Domestic violence in Pakistan is an endemic social and public health problem. According to a study carried out in 2009 by Human Rights Watch, it is estimated that between 10 and 20% of women in Pakistan have suffered some form of abuse. Women have reported attacks ranging from physical to psychological and sexual abuse from intimate partners. A survey carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked Pakistan as the sixth most dangerous country for women while India ranked 1st as the most dangerous country for women. Given the very few women's shelters in the country, victims have limited ability to escape from violent situations.
Reproductive coercion is a collection of behaviors that interfere with decision-making related to reproductive health. These behaviors are meant to maintain power and control related to reproductive health by a current, former, or hopeful intimate or romantic partner, but they can also be perpetrated by parents or in-laws. Coercive behaviors infringe on individuals' reproductive rights and reduce their reproductive autonomy.
Domestic violence is prominent in Nigeria as in other parts of Africa. There is a deep cultural belief in Nigeria that it is socially acceptable to hit a woman as a disciplinary measure. Cases of Domestic violence are on the high and show no signs of reduction in Nigeria, regardless of age, tribe, religion, or even social status. The CLEEN Foundation reports 1 in every 3 respondents admitting to being a victim of domestic violence. The survey also found a nationwide increase in domestic violence in the past 3 years from 21% in 2011 to 30% in 2013. A CLEEN Foundation's 2012 National Crime and Safety Survey demonstrated that 31% of the national sample confessed to being victims of domestic violence.
Domestic violence in Kenya constitutes any harmful behavior against a family member or partner, including rape, assault, physical abuse, and forced prostitution. Domestic violence in Kenya reflects worldwide statistics in that women are the overwhelming majority of victims. Over 40% of married women in Kenya have reported being victims of either domestic violence or sexual abuse. Worldwide, over 30% of "ever-partnered women" aged 15 and older have experienced physical or sexual partner violence. The distinct factors and causes of this high percentage have often not been studied due to lack of data.
Domestic violence and abuse in the United Kingdom are a range of abusive behaviours that occur within relationships. Domestic violence or abuse can be physical, psychological, sexual, financial or emotional. In UK laws and legislation, the term "domestic abuse" is commonly used to encompass various forms of domestic violence. Some specific forms of domestic violence and abuse are criminal offences. Victims or those at risk of domestic abuse can also be provided with remedies and protection via civil law.
Emily M. Douglas is a political scientist conducting research on child and family well-being, the child welfare system, fatal child maltreatment, domestic violence and divorced families, and corporal punishment. She is a full professor and the chair of the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy at Montclair State University.
Domestic violence in South Korea is the mental, physical, verbal or sexual abuses or crimes of violence committed towards a victim in a domestic setting of marital relations and cohabitation. Domestic violence describes violence towards a domestic partner, towards children and between siblings. According to the Domestic Violence Survey of South Korea in 2010, elder abuse was estimated to be 10%, physical abuse accounted for 2.2%, emotional abuse 9%, economic abuse 1.2%, and neglect 2.5%. Marital violence has been the most prevalent form of family violence in South Korea. One out of six couples in South Korea had more than one episode of physical violence from their spouse.
