Wife beating, regarded in traditional Chinese values as the
private affair of a family that should not be intervened in, is
becoming increasingly a target of social protest and government
regulations.
Rong Weiyi, a professor at the Beijing-based Chinese People's
Public Security University, said domestic violence, of which wives
are the most common victims, is drawing wider attention of society
in China.
Women activists believe it is imperative to set up an
anti-family violence network led by governments, with the
participation of women's federations, law enforcement organs and
communities.
According to a survey conducted by the China Law Institute in
Gansu, Hunan and Zhejiang provinces, one third of surveyed families
have witnessed family violence, in 85 percent of which women were
victims.
The survey showed that domestic violence, both physical and
mental, can occur in families of any social class.
In traditional Chinese values, men played the dominant role both
in the family and society, while women were expected to be
subordinate to them, Rong said.
"Social acquiescence and tolerance of domestic violence is
partly a result of such mentality," he said.
However, the Chinese government has made it clear in its plan
for women's development for 2001-2010 that violence targeted at
women in any form must be prohibited.
The country's first city-level regulation on the prevention of
domestic violence was promulgated in Changsha, provincial capital
of Hunan in central China in January 1996. In 2000, a provincial
law was passed in Hunan, followed by similar laws and regulations
in Sichuan, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang and Hubei provinces and the
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
By May this year, some 11,000 officials with women's federations
in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities were
appointed by local courts as special jurors for family violence
cases. Legal assistance and service organizations sponsored jointly
by women's federations and judicial departments were established in
16 provinces. And shelters for victims were set up in 13
provinces.
Non-governmental organizations also play an important role in
the prevention of domestic violence, Rong said.
A community intervention program was established in the Hebei
district of north China's municipality of Tianjin three years ago
by the Beijing-based Hongfeng (Red Maple) Women's
Psychology Consulting Service with the cooperation of the local
women's federation.
At the end of 1999, the "Anti-Family Violence" program, the
first non-governmental organization of its kind, was initiated by
the China Law Institute.
The program put forward that living without violence is a right
every woman should enjoy and proposed that a national law should be
made to better protect women.
Chen Mingxia, a coordinator of the program, said that the
proposal on anti-family violence legislation was submitted in March
this year to the National People's Congress.
"Though we still have a long way to go, we are at least on the
way," Chen said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2003)