Anti-Domestic Violence Law Research Articles

Challenges Identifying Domestic Violence in Chinese Judicial Practice: An Empirical Analysis of Personal Safety Protection Orders.

Domestic violence is a global social issue that not only poses a significant threat to the stability of families but also has a profound impact on the physical and mental well-being of family members. In China, due to the broad criteria for defining domestic violence in the Anti-domestic Violence Law, challenges have arisen in the practical handling of domestic violence cases. The study is based on 238 civil protection order rulings available on the China Judgments Online website for the year 2021. In China, the criteria for identifying domestic violence are not only still subject to theoretical debate, but contentious viewpoints have also translated into inconsistencies in judicial practice. This study aims to further assess the underlying reasons for the difficulties in identifying domestic violence in Chinese judicial practice and to propose recommendations for improvement.

The Interplay of Social Norms and Legal Systems: Unraveling the Complexity of Domestic Violence in China and Paving the Path for Change

This research investigates the perpetuation of domestic violence (DV) in China by analyzing how social norms and institutional practices collectively contribute to the challenges faced by individuals experiencing DV. Despite the implementation of China's Anti-Domestic Violence Law in 2016, its effectiveness in protecting DV survivors' rights has been subject to scrutiny among researchers. This research aims to understand whether law enforcement and judicial responses post-legislation effectively align with policy objectives to mitigate DV issues. It hypothesizes a dissonance between the DV legislation and social norms emphasizing family and social harmony and non-interference in family affairs. Focusing on specific DV cases and incorporating the meta-analysis of secondary empirical data, archived governmental reports, periodicals, interviews, Confucian writings, and prior scholarly insights, this study examines how social norms and institutional practices in governmental agencies impact the framing and responses to DV cases. Findings suggest that entrenched social and gender norms shaped by Confucianism and traditional Chinese cultural values legitimize and reinforce institutional norms regarding how police and judges should downplay DV cases, leading to indifference and ineffective DV interventions. This research highlights the importance of adopting a social norms approach to effectively address this problem and the need for a transformative shift in social attitudes toward DV. It contributes to a nuanced understanding of DV and policy implementation in China, potentially serving as a significant step towards devising practical strategies to improve the protection of DV survivors at the local level.

Media coverage of domestic violence-related issues in China

Domestic violence-related issues in China have attracted extensive attention since the Anti-Domestic Violence Law was implemented in 2016. This project builds on framing theory, the law and social movements perspective, and a discussion of ethnocentrism to address how the Chinese state-owned (English-language) and British privately-owned media represented domestic violence-related issues in China from 2016 to 2022. The findings of this research demonstrated that China Daily passively participated the simultaneous process of media campaign and legal tactic, referenced legal actors’ ideas on initiating top-down legal reform to close legal loopholes and improve the effectiveness of law enforcement, and educated the public to remove outdated traditional ideas. The Chinese media coverage on domestic violence-related issues can be characterized as taking a responsive approach, as they largely reference elite legal actors’ discourse on pragmatic solutions for domestic violence. Conversely, the British media broadened the discussion of domestic violence-related issues in China to critique socialist values and the Communist party (government). The Guardian and The Economist emphasized the importance of bottom-up feminist movements and individual activists’ contributions in ending domestic violence. The ethnocentrism of the British publications resulted in their overlooking Chinese law and social movements in the context of domestic violence.

Mind Control and Abused-Related Suicide: The Criminal Justice Response to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in China

Mind control is a new form of intimate partner violence. It involves the abuser verbally humiliating and intimidating his or her partner in order to increase his or her emotional dependence. The consequences are self-doubt or self-denial on the part of the abused person, fear of resisting the abuser, or even self-mutilation or suicide at the abuser's instigation. Recently, a Chinese court ruled in a case where mind control led to the suicide of his girlfriend, sentencing the defendant, Mu Linhan, to three years and two months in prison for abuse. This case brings the form of violence known as mind control officially into the public view. In this case, the court made a breakthrough in determining that a non-marital cohabitation relationship establishes a family member relationship, and recognized the causality of mind control on suicide. In recent years, China has effectively contributed to the protection of women's rights and interests through the Anti-Domestic Violence Law and criminal law. However, shortcomings in the law limit the ability of rules to combat domestic violence. China should introduce additional criminal law provisions on new forms of domestic violence and improve the scope of criminal law regulation of domestic violence offences.

THE POSITION OF IRAQI WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS ON APPROVING THE LAW ON PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (A FIELD STUDY)

In the absence of legal legislation that guarantees the rights of the family and protects it from any domestic abuse, and with the presence of fanatical parliamentary and political blocs and leaders that reject everything that would lead to a safe and fair life for all, the Anti-Domestic Violence Law in Iraq has been put forward in Parliament since 2011. It was adopted and sponsored by human rights and social bodies. Civil organizations concerned with the rights of the family and the child in particular, and set up studied frameworks for it to ensure the reduction of rumored violence and deterring those who cause violence. It was proposed by the Presidency of the Republic and sent by the Council of Ministers on August 4, 2020 to the House of Representatives, but it remained without acknowledging its obligation to reject some blocs inside the dome of Parliament on the pretext that Some of the provisions of the law contradict the principles of Islam in the upbringing of the wife and children, describing it as a destroyer of the family and a cause of the disintegration of its bonds. She has done more than that by launching campaigns to abuse the law, distort its paragraphs and intimidate people from it, while the opposite is true and the provisions of the law carry only greater regulation of social relations. And the family. Iraq today does not have any law that protects women and children, with an increase in incidents of abuse within the family against the most vulnerable groups, such as women and children. It may sometimes reach murder as a result of violence, and it comes under several justifications such as sudden death or suicide and others to escape judicial penalties. Violence is taken Gender-based violence takes many forms, including partner violence، sexual violence, and child marriage. Girls and women may also be exposed to gender-based violence when they are deprived of nutrition and education. Women and girls who are survivors of gender-based violence suffer severe long-term consequences for their lives. Their physical and psychological health, and some of them are exposed to serious physical injuries and may lose their lives. Based on all of the above, I conducted field research with some Iraqi women parliamentarians about the legislation of the law and their position towards it. During the research, it was found that some parliamentary blocs strongly oppose the legislation of the law, as they claim within it the disintegration of Muslim families and contrary to the constants of Sharia. Some of them believe that there is no infrastructure to shelter survivors of domestic violence and the need to amend some of its paragraphs

Nurses' preparedness, opinions, barriers, and facilitators in responding to intimate partner violence: A mixed-methods study.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with multiple adverse health consequences. Nurses (including midwives) are well positioned to identify patients subjected to IPV, and provide care, support, and referrals. However, studies about nursing response to IPV are limited especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The study aimed to examine nurses' perceived preparedness and opinions toward IPV and to identify barriers and facilitators in responding to IPV. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted by collecting quantitative data first and explaining the quantitative findings with qualitative data. The study was conducted in two tertiary general hospitals in northeastern (Shenyang city) and southwestern (Chengdu city) China with 1500 and 1800 beds, respectively. A total of 1071 survey respondents (1039 female [97.0%]) and 43 interview participants (34 female [79.1%]) were included in the study. An online survey was administered from September 3 to 23, 2020, using two validated scales from the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted from September 15 to December 23, 2020, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. The survey respondents largely agreed with feeling prepared to manage IPV, e.g., respond to discourses (544 [50.8%] of 1071) and report to police (704 [65.7%] of 1071). The findings of surveyed opinions (i.e., Response competencies; Routine practice; Actual activities; Professionals; Victims; Alcohol/drugs) were mixed and intertwined with social desirability bias. The quantitative and qualitative data were consistent, contradicted, and supplemented. Key qualitative findings were revealed that may explain the quantitative results, including lack of actual preparedness, absence of IPV-related education, training, or practice, and socially desirable responses (especially those pertaining to China's Anti-domestic Violence Law). Commonly reported barriers (e.g., patients' reluctance to disclose; time constraints) and facilitators (e.g., patients' strong need for help; female nurses' gender advantage), as well as previously unreported barriers (e.g., IPV may become a workplace taboo if there are healthcare professionals known as victims/perpetrators of IPV) and facilitators (e.g., nurses' responses can largely meet the first-line support requirements even without formal education or training on IPV) were identified. Nurses may play a unique and important role in responding to IPV in LMICs where recognition is limited, education and training are absent, policies are lacking, and resources are scarce. Our findings support World Health Organization recommendations for selective screening. The study highlights the great potential of nurses for IPV prevention and intervention especially in LMICs. The identified barriers and facilitators are important evidence for developing multifaceted interventions to address IPV in the health sector.

Learning to see, learning to say, and learning to eradicate domestic violence in China

China’s first-ever, national Anti-Domestic Violence Law (henceforth, the Law) took effect in March 2016. The enactment of the Law was perceived by members of the general public as a solid step, taken by the Chinese government, both to protect the legal rights and interests of victims of gender-based violence (especially female victims) and also to establish domestic violence as a serious socio-legal problem deserving of greater public (especially political) attention. In this article, I choose to primarily focus on one specific type of domestic violence – gender-based violence within a current or former romantic relationship that causes harms to those in the relationship. I aim to identify and examine the limitations with this still recent Law in particular, and the criminal justice approach in general that China has been adopting to stop gender-based violence. Based upon an analysis of a very recent high-profile case of gender-based violence and five annual evaluation reports on the implementation of the Law, I lean to the conclusion that without transforming the socio-cultural context, no domestic violence legislation can effectively address gender-based violence and enhance the wellbeing of Chinese women.

Factors associated with formal help-seeking for domestic violence in urban China

Abstract The promulgation and implementation of the China Anti-Domestic Violence Law have effectively solved many problems related to domestic violence at the legislative level, but the law received no clear feedback when implemented in specific communities. This study aims to examine factors associated with formal help-seeking for domestic violence in urban China. This study mainly collected survey data in a neighbourhood community in Y City, Guangdong Province of China. A total of 1,062 valid samples were used for analysis. Our findings demonstrate the awareness of the definition, nature, types and harm of domestic violence, the perception regarding the propaganda and the implementation of domestic violence, and the influence of individual experience of domestic violence have impacts on the intention to seek formal help. However, the traditional cultural perspective is not associated with the intention to seek formal help. Policymakers and practitioners should vigorously promote anti-domestic violence laws and related projects to inform people about domestic violence and improve the implementation of anti-domestic violence policies and programmes.

The anti-domestic violence law and women's welfare: Evidence from a natural experiment in China

China's first national Anti-Domestic Violence Law was enacted in March 2016. It offers legal protection to the victims of domestic violence. This paper estimates the intent-to-treat effect of its implementation on women's welfare. Using a nationally representative dataset, our difference-in-differences estimator shows that the law has significantly increased the life satisfaction of married women. Further exploration shows that the increase in life satisfaction is greater for women with higher salaries, better education, and of younger age than their respective counterparts. The increase in life satisfaction is realized through women's increased self-confidence, health status, and intra-household bargaining power as measured by household expenditures on goods favored by women. We also show that the law's implementation might have a broader effect on women's social status, reflected through their increased probability of being promoted and higher salaries.

Chinese Lesbian and Gay Adults’ Self-Reported Experiences of Negative Treatment and Violence From Family of Origin: Evidence From a Larger-Scale Study in China

Lesbian and gay adults’ self-reported experiences of violence from family of origin in adulthood have been less examined in previous research on interpersonal violence from intimate others. In China, while it has been understood that lesbians and gay men face mounting pressure to marry and have children, there is little empirical evidence on their experiences of violence from family of origin. This paper analyzes self-reported experiences of negative treatment and violence from a larger-scale study in China of 11,048 Chinese lesbian and gay cisgender adults. The majority of Chinese lesbians and gay men felt pressure to get married and have children (70.4%), and experienced different forms of negative treatment and violence from their family members based on sexual orientation (54.2%). A significant gender difference was observed. This paper provides novel empirical evidence for the lived experiences of lesbians and gay men in China and bears implications for China’s Anti-domestic Violence Law.

Domestic Violence against Women in Indonesia: The Recent Domestic Violence Elimination Law Analysis

Even though Law Number 23 of 2004 concerning on the Elimination of Domestic Violence was promulgated fifteen years ago, the number of domestic violence against women has not significantly decreased. The Law has not set concrete actions that may fall under the domestic violence that can be punished, particularly in terms of sexual abuse psychological violence, and negligence in household towards women. This research aims to analyze domestic violence against women in this Law and the conducts that are considered to be domestic violence which is commonly found in daily life in Indonesia. A purely qualitative research method encompassing document analysis of key documents in Indonesia and the Anti-Domestic Violence Law 2004 is adopted in this paper. The research reveals that This Law is particularly protecting women from household violence in Indonesia. The law has recognized physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and negligence as sorts of domestic violence against women in household although it might find difficult to enforce the law when dealing with marital rape regarding lack of reports from victims and polygamy concerning circumstances that can be used to criminalize the perpetrators.

Migrant Women's Help-Seeking Decisions and Use of Support Resources for Intimate Partner Violence in China.

In China, women who domestically relocate from rural or less developed regions to major cities are at a higher risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) than their non-migrant counterparts. Few studies have focused on Chinese domestic migrant women’s help-seeking for IPV and their use of different sources of support. The present study aimed to identify factors that influence migrant women’s help-seeking decisions. In addition, we also examined factors that contribute to migrant women’s use of diverse sources of support for IPV. A sample of 280 migrant women victimized by IPV in the past year at the time of the survey was drawn from a larger cross-sectional study conducted in four major urban cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Using a multinomial logistic regression model and a zero-inflated Poisson model, we found that factors influencing migrant women’s help-seeking decisions and their use of diverse sources of support included socioeconomic factors, IPV type, relationship-related factors, knowledge of China’s first anti-Domestic Violence Law, and perception of the effectiveness of current policies. We discuss implications for future research and interventions.

Impact of the Implementation of the Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China on Domestic Violence Behavior by Married Couples in Urban Areas

This research aimed to explore the influence of the Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China since it officially took effect in 2016. Using data from the Supreme People's Court's official publications and the Peking University Legal Database (PKU Law), we compared the number of domestic violence-related cases in the five years before and after implementing the People's Republic of China's implementation of Anti-domestic Violence Law. We also obtained and evaluated yearly data changes on warnings and protection orders since the Anti-domestic Violence Law permits public security authorities and judicial authorities to issue warning letters and personal safety protection orders. At the same time, we distributed 350 questionnaires to residents to assess their awareness of the Anti-domestic Violence Law. Regression analysis reveals that the knowledge and awareness of the Anti-domestic Violence Law could affect the frequency of domestic violence behaviour. We can infer from our research that the overall condition of domestic violence has improved significantly in the five years following the enactment of China's Anti-domestic Violence Law. While there are still a large number of victims who have difficulty getting rid of domestic violence thoroughly, means that the law's popularization and enforcement still have a long way to go.

Empirical study on handling of domestic violence cases by police

ABSTRACT The police departments play an irreplaceable role in the prevention and suppression of domestic violence (DV). The new anti-domestic violence law was passed in 2015 and implemented in 2016 in China, and further clarified the legal responsibilities of police in DV cases. However, in practice, due to the lack of relevant rules, difficulties still exist in the implementation. In this study, information about the current situation of police intervention in DV cases was collected during group interviews with police officers from police stations, and residents’ committee staffs. In discussing the difficulties and problems of implementation, we will advise on further improvement of the Anti-domestic Violence Law.

Organizational support and Chinese police officers’ attitudes toward intervention into domestic violence

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese police officers’ general support for police intervention into domestic violence, emphasizing adequate protection of the victims, and specific support for utilizing arrests to deal with the offenders.Design/methodology/approachThis study relies on survey data collected from 1,064 police officers who worked in multiple areas in two provinces of China between June and July of 2019. OLS models were used to test whether organizational variables are significant predictors of officer attitudes toward domestic violence intervention.FindingsBoth agency endorsement and supervisory support are positively related to officers’ favorable attitudes toward police intervention into domestic violence and using arrests to handle offenders. The amount of training received from the agency on the recently promulgated Anti-Domestic Violence Law, however, has a negative influence on officer support for general intervention into domestic violence and no influence on officer attitudes toward arrests.Originality/valueThis study represents one of the first attempts to investigate the connections between organizational and managerial factors and Chinese officers’ support for both general and specific interventions into domestic violence. It contributes to the current literature that only included police cadets in the analysis of Chinese police attitudes toward domestic violence despite the fundamental differences between cadets and active-duty officers.

Chinese police officers’ attitudes toward domestic violence interventions: do training and knowledge of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law matter?

ABSTRACT In March 2016, China’s Anti-Domestic Violence Law became effective. The main objective of this study is to empirically test the effects of training and knowledge on the recent anti-domestic violence legislation on Chinese police officers’ attitudes toward law enforcement interventions into domestic violence. Performing Path Analysis on survey data collected from 623 police officers in Jiangsu, China, this study found that training and knowledge on the law, while mediating the positive effects of organisational support and previous experience of handling domestic violence on officers’ proactive attitudes toward policing domestic violence, did not have a direct connection to pro-arrest attitudes. Organisational support is the strongest predictor of endorsement of domestic violence interventions as important police work and pro-arrest attitudes. Implications for criminal justice policies and practice are also discussed.

Protection of Family from Verbal abuse and social violence in Light of the Provisions of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2011 (Comparative Study)

يَعد موضوع حماية األسرة من العنف اللفظـو االجتماعو من المواضيع المهمة ، خاصة فو هذه المرحلـة التو يمر بها المجتمع الكوردي، التو تميزت فو معظمهـا بالعنف الخـو ا اللـذين َد بمـرا اللنيـة التجتيـة للمجتمـع، مــن األســلات التــو دفعــ اللاحــو الختيــار موضــوع الدراسة هو تذكير األسرة المجتمع على مناهضـة العنـف األسري بيان األسلات االقتصادية االجتماعية فو نمـوهذه الظاهرة، هدف الرسـالة بلـكض موضـوعو علمـو إلـى رفـع م ـتوي الـوعو العـا فـو كيفيـة حمايـة فـراد األسرة ضمان الجقوق الفردية االجتماعيةا من جـض ن يلعر جميع األفراد بكامض حقوقهم، مـا المـنها المتلـع فـو كتابـة هـذا اللجـو فهـو  المنها الوصفو التجليلـو المقـارن، إف صـف اللاحـو اقع العنف األسري كظاهرة اجتماعية برزت فو المجتمع، فلك بعرض نصوص حكا اللريعة االسالمية القـانون تجليلها، من هـم النتـالا التـو توصـل اليهـا الدراسـة هو، َّن قضـية العنـ ف داخـض األسـرة، قضـية قديمـة لهـا سـابقة تيريخيـة هويلـك عنـد كأليـر مـن األمـم اللـعوتالقديمة، توصــو هــذه الدراســة بالتــالو علــى الملــرع الكوردستانو اعادة النظـر فـو هـذا القـانونا لكونـك فـ صـياهتك الجاليـة يلـكض معضـلة قانونيـة كليـرةا ي ـل الفوضى فو التنظيما لعد ترتيلك تنظيمك ضمن نصوص القـانون، علـى جميـع فـراد األسـرة االبتعـاد عـن العنـف إهانة بعضهم لللعض.

The Family as a Stronghold of State Stability: Two Contradictions in China’s Anti-Domestic Violence Efforts

China’s first Anti-Domestic Violence Law that took effect in March 2016 is widely praised as progress against the malfunction of public power in the area of domestic violence allegations in an ingrained patriarchal society. However, empirical research points to the first contradiction in judicial practices, namely, the informal and flexible mechanism of judicial mediation that is the norm in domestic violence cases. The victims’ rights and safety are harmed under the political requirement of ‘saving and repairing the marital relationship’ or ‘maintaining social harmony.’ Facing this weakness of the judiciary and public power, Chinese civil society has been increasingly engaging in various forms of anti-domestic violence advocacy and has achieved considerable success inside and outside the courtroom. Nevertheless, in this context, the authorities have escalated repression and suppression of the anti-domestic violence advocacy amid its efforts of further suppressing civil society in general. Based on the analysis of these two contradictions, this article argues that the apparent contradictions reflect the inherent coherence of deploying law as an instrument serving for political ends in an authoritarian context. Alongside the intensifying tension in these two contradictions is the further setback to reform and the shrinking of the space for civil society activism.

Correlates of Attitudes Toward Dating Violence Among Police Cadets in China.

Scholars have highlighted that incidents of dating violence are quite frequent among college students, and subsequent consequence can be devastating. A key factor that has been singled out in most studies on dating violence concerns an individual's attitudes toward dating violence. It is assumed that there is a link between one's attitudes and associated behaviors. The purpose of this study is to investigate correlates of attitudes toward dating violence among police cadets in a 4-year university in China. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that police cadets were the subjects of research on this important topic. Besides several commonly adopted variables in the analysis in the United States, we incorporated three variables that were unique to this study (the assistance-oriented police strategy, internship experience, and knowing anti-domestic violence law). The findings revealed that preference of gender-role, perceptions of the nature of dating, and police strategies have significant effect on cadets' sentiment of dating violence. We also discussed the limitations of this study and highlight several areas that future research needs to focus on.

Legislative exploration of domestic violence in the People’s Republic of China: A sociosemiotic perspective

Abstract Battles against domestic violence in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter P. R. C.) have been carried out since 1995. In this study, legislative progression of laws related to domestic violence is first examined and clarified; second, findings from the legislative review are investigated on the basis of civil and criminal cases; third, the interaction among social and traditional norms, legislation, and judicial outcomes is explored and interpreted from a sociosemiotic perspective. It is found in this study that: 1) legislation and judicial practices of domestic violence in the P. R. C. are closely intertwined with social and traditional norms; 2) there is a gap between judicial practices dealing with domestic violence and the legislation; 3) the Anti-Domestic Violence Law offers a notch for state powers to embrace the familial relationship and to safeguard a victim.