The Ministry of Public Security confirmed yesterday that police will handle
cases of domestic violence
differently to regular family disputes.
The move is part of a regulation
to be issued by the ministry on how to deal with family violence, and it aims to
better protect victims, a document from the ministry's public security
management bureau, said.
The document said the setting of a new case
type would help the police better understand the severity of such incidents so
they might take appropriate and timely action.
Police generally treat
domestic violence as a family dispute, and are therefore sometimes slow to
react. To redress that, the regulation places a legal duty on the police to
assist victims and stipulates that police response must be immediate or they
will face punishment.
Figures from the All-China Women's Federation show
that about 30 percent of Chinese families, some 80 million, have experienced
domestic violence. About a quarter of the 400,000 divorces registered each year
result from family violence.
Besides, the federation has received about
50,000 reports of domestic violence over the past two years, with an annual
growth rate of 70 percent.
"Women are the victims in most cases," Mo
Wenxiu, the federation's vice-chairwoman, said.
Figures from police in
Shenzhen, South China, show that in the first half of this year, 26 people died
as a result of domestic abuse - 13 percent of all the deaths resulting from
crime.
However, although China has laws and regulations concerning
domestic violence, they lack details for prevention and punishment.
The
traditional idea is that family violence is a private matter and the variables
involved prevent effective policing, Liu Bohong, deputy director of the Women's
Studies Institute of China, said.
"But violence is not a private issue,
it is a crime."
Liu said the regulation to be issued takes a practical
approach to how police should handle family violence.
Li Meijin, a
professor with the Chinese People's Public Security University, said the new
rules send a clear signal: "Those who commit domestic violence must be
punished."
However, Liu said police intervention alone was not enough.
She said many victims were unwilling to turn to the police, so communities
should play a bigger role.
She said the country should also consider how
to help victims escape abuse, and pointed to the shelter that was set up by the
Ministry of Civil Affairs last year in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, to offer
temporary help for run-away female victims.
Liu said that sexual, emotional, psychological and economic
abuse should also be classed as domestic violence.
(China Daily 08/02/2007 page 3)
Vocabulary:
domestic violence： 家庭暴力
Questions:
1. How many families have experienced domestic violence?
2. Why will the police handle cases of domestic violence differently from
family disputes?
3. What does Li Meijin, professor at the Chinese
People's Public Security University say about the police's new approach to
handling domestic violence?
Answers:
1. 80 million.
2. To protect victims.
3. Those who commit domestic violence should be punished.
（英语点津 Linda 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from
Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong
and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, producing current affairs shows and
documentaries.
