The ultimate loss: Rape and suicide in Qing China, 1744 – 1903

Abstract

By examining 1841 rape cases in late Qing China, this paper studies the significance of suicide among rape victims. More than 40 percent of all rape victims committed suicide; the figure was much higher among those victims of rape, attempted rape, and acquaintance rape. On the one hand, Qing rape laws reflected Confucian traditions which controlled women's sexuality and demanded their chastity. If a woman was sexually assaulted and survived the ordeal, the stringent rape laws made it very difficult for her to proclaim her innocence. Let alone for those victims of acquaintance rape to accuse their perpetrators. Only serious injury and death of the victim could convince the court to convict the perpetrator. On the other hand, the Qing government awarded those victims who resisted rape, and who were either killed by their perpetrators or took their lives afterwards. When laws were not favorable to their plight, victims of sexual offenses saw no other alternative but to use suicide to implicate and avenge their perpetrators.