China

Population Size:

1,397,715,000.[1]

Number of People Experiencing Domestic Abuse Each Year:

2011: 24.7% of married Chinese women had suffered some form of domestic violence from their husband.[2]

25% of women reported having experienced domestic violence.[3]

No research on male victims or other gender identities.

Cost of Domestic Abuse to the Economy Each Year:

No research.

Estimated % Change due to COVID-19:

Domestic violence is reported to have tripled during the lockdown, with Blue Sky, an anti-domestic-violence non-profit based in Hubei province, receiving a total of 175 reports of domestic violence in February 2020, a tripling in the number of complaints from February 2019.[4], [5].

Current Law and Policy:

China introduced its first Anti-Domestic Violence Law on 27th December 2015.[6] The Law was developed in order to prevent and curb domestic violence, protect the lawful rights and interests of family members, maintain equal, harmonious and civilised family relations, and promote family harmony and social stability. There are still no comprehensive national implementation guidelines or judicial interpretations concerning the Law, despite the urgent needs to address the uncertainties regarding the definition and process by which to recognise domestic violence and to standardise procedures for protecting victims.

By November 2019, various levels of governments in 24 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions had issued directives on aspects of the Law, including guidelines on warning letters, protection orders and mandatory reporting. As of March 2020, the People’s Congress in the four provinces of Shandong, Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou had enacted their own provincial-level, anti-domestic violence regulations.

Frontline Services:

• Women Legal Aid - www.woman-legalaid.org.cn - ngo@woman-legalaid.org.cn

• Women Watch - www.womenwatch-china.org - admin@womenwatch-china.org

• West Woman - www.westwomen.org - westwomen@westwomen.org

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Sources

[1] The World Bank, (1).

[2] All China Women’s Federation and National Bureau of Statistics, “”The Third Wave Survey on the Social Status of Women in China”, (2011), Report; H. Yang, “China: Tackling Domestic Violence and its Effects in the Workplace”, (asiafoundation.org, 22 January 2020).

[3] P. Lu, “Two Years On: Is China’s Domestic Violence Law Working”, (amnesty.org, 7 March 2018).

[4] Graham-Harrison, Giuffrida, Smith and Ford, (147); Campbell, “An Increasing Risk of Family Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Strengthening Community Collaborations to Save Lives”, (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2 December 2020).

[5] J. Feng, “COVID-19 Fuels Domestic Violence in China”, (supchina.com, 24 March 2020).

[6] Order No. 37 of the President of the People’s Republic of China. For a translated, unofficial copy in English: (chinalawtranslate.com).

Further Reading

[1] H. Yang, “China’s Domestic Violence Law Turns Four”, (asiafoundation.org, 1 April 2020).