Focus

Fighting domestic violence

By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-30 10:35

Though all 438 staff members in her hospital have received special training to deal with domestic violence, few victims admit a problem even when the signs are obvious.

Sun said most women just ask to be treated and left alone. She did add though that in the last four years, more patients are coming forward to talk and ask for professional advice.

"They are no longer hiding it as much," she said.

According to Chen Mingxia, chairwoman of the Anti-Domestic Violence Network of China Law Society (ADVN) - an NGO aiming to eliminate gender-based violence in China - raising awareness of domestic violence into the public spotlight is the biggest achievement of her organization over the past 10 years.

"There was a time when some men believed there was nothing wrong with beating their wives. Now, most know this is wrong," she said, adding that the growing number of domestic violence cases comes because women are more open about admitting the issue.

Domestic violence is a widespread phenomenon in China. A survey in 2008 showed that as many as one third of Chinese families have experienced violence in some form and the majority of victims are women, children and the elderly.

"Roughly 30 percent of families in China suffer from domestic violence, which means specific national legislation is urgently needed," said Xia Yinlan, a professor specializing in marriage law with the China University of Political Science and Law.

Currently, domestic violence is clearly prohibited in marriage law, the law on the protection of the rights and interests of women and the law on the protection of juveniles.

However, none of the existing laws are designed to tackle domestic violence specifically and the lack of detailed regulations makes helping the vulnerable very tricky.

"Take finding proof as an example. Laws in China require the plaintiff to find proof by themselves, which is difficult in cases of domestic violence," Xia said.

"Most women, who have suffered from domestic violence for a long time, never keep evidence of their wounds. When they bring their case to court, they cannot prove they have been beaten many times because old wounds have already healed," she said.

Xia added that finding eyewitnesses is another problem because most incidents happen at home.

"We have proposed a draft anti-domestic violence law in which defendants must prove they are not responsible for the wounds they've been accused of," she said.

A group of experts, led by Xia, submitted a first draft of their law to the 10th National People's Congress and the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 2003. It was rejected. Their second version, suggested in March this year following three years of research, is currently being considered.

"We failed the first time because the timing was not right and we didn't prove that a national law was needed," Xia said.

Though ADVN has tried hard to encourage more men to participate in its activities, only about five percent of its members are male, according to Liu Xiaojuan, the project manager on male engagement into the organization.

Liu said some men believe it is a woman's responsibility to fight for her rights, while others felt women already have enough respect from society.

"Some men are uncomfortable when they join us because they feel like they have become the target of criticism," she said.

Fang Shanhai, one of the few male members of ADVN, said his co-workers are hesitant about joining the group because they are afraid to be thought of as violent aggressors.

A psychologist surnamed Fang, who joined the organization last year to learn more about domestic violence, said getting more men involved in anti-domestic violence activities is a big challenge.

Fang said he has personally handled some 20 cases of domestic violence in his profession in the past two years alone.

"About 80 to 90 percent of men who carry out domestic violence refuse to receive therapy," he said, adding that most only come when their children start to show unusual behavior after witnessing parental violence.