Problem, Progress

1
Problem, Progress ProposalDomestic Violence
against Women in China

• Song Yueping, Renmin University of China
• International workshop on Feminist Economics in
  China and India
• New Delhi, India, 11-12/11/2013

2
Domestic violence against wives in China

• In traditional Chinese families, violence,
  especially beating is a common practice, to make
  the wife obedient.
• Traditional Chinese womens social and family
  status can be clearly depicted in the Chinese
  aphorisms
• Beating is love, and scolding is intimacy.
  ???,???
• A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more
  you beat the better they are. ???????????.
• VAW is the typical manifestation of gender
  stereotypes and masculine social norms, which
  will induce higher morbidity and mortality among
  women.

3
The progress in new century

• While in China, VAW was quite a issue of privacy,
  and the female victim of abuse could hardly get
  the social and law support before 2000.
• An impartial judge will find himself
  worthless in hearing a case of domestic
  disputes????????
• In 2001, a famous TV play in China Dont
  Respond to Strangers- Domestic Violence was
  popular, and brought the VAM to the public
  awareness of the cost of tolerance of VAW. It is
  SILLY to keep silent toward VAW.

4
Progress on Domestic Violence in recent years
----National law
and policy process

• Local branches of ACWF began anti DV legal
  initiatives after Beijing Conference 1995.
• 2001 Marriage Law amended to include a law
  outlawing domestic violence/2005 LRIW amended
  remedial measures included.
• In 2008, seven ministries including the Supreme
  People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public
  Security, Ministry of Justice, and ACWF jointly
  formulated the Several opinions on Preventing
  and Stopping Domestic Violence which stipulated
  the responsibility of all departments in
  preventing and treating domestic violence.
• Both the National Plan of Action for Women and
  Children (2001-2010) and the Human Rights Action
  Plan (2009-2010) mention curbing VAW as one of
  their priorities.

5
Progress on Domestic Violence in recent years

• All the laws and policies mentioned above do not
  work at operation level, and there is not a
  national Domestic Violence Law yet in China
  (Standing Committee of the National People's
  Congress put it into the their plan recently ).
• 2008 Guide for Supreme Peoples Court issued on
  domestic violence and protection orders
  mechanism , attempting to adopt a protective
  order system in domestic violence cases, and had
  set up pilot in various cities with positive
  effects.
• Then, quickly, More than 3000 collegiate panels
  for VAW had been set up till 2010, mostly with
  female judges and juries from ACWF.
• And anti-DV social networks, pilot hospital
  intervention in recognition of VAW as health
  issue, policeman interventions, shelters for
  victims.
• As a result, the prevalence of VAM reduced, and
  the accessibility of succor for victims keeps
  increasing.

6
The famous example 'Crazy English' founder
accused of domestic violence in 2011. Li Yangs
wife, Kim Li, American resident, brought a suit
against Li Yang for beating in 2011 in Beijing,
and in Feb, 2013, won the suit.
7
Current Situation

• According to latest survey, the Lower prevalence
  of VAW, especially physical abuse like beating
  and sex abuse.
• While big difference across rural-urban\
  different regions.
• Women from rural\ midwest areas\with lower
  education \lower income are more vulnerable to DV.

In 2000, the cwss 2 only measured the prevalence
of beating and sexual abuse, reflecting the
limitation of understanding of AVM at that
time. In 2010, the cwss 3 measured 6 types of DV,
including beating, sex abuse, verbal abuse,
ignorance, financial control and physical
control. There is a sharp decrease in AMV in
China during the past 10 years, in 2000, 22.5
married women had been beaten by spouses, and in
2010 only 5.4 the sex abuse rate dropped from
10.8 to 1.7.
8

• How to understand the effect of womens economic
  empowerment on DV?
• Specifically, as a manifestation of EE of women,
  how does land right act in protecting women from
  DV?

9
The Evolution of Rural Land Policy in Recent 30
Years longer tenure.
1998Land tenure was extended to 30 years in the
second contract round.
2003Rural Land Contract Law the nation
guarantees the land tenure stability, within
the tenure, the large land adjustments are
prohibited.
1978The HRS established, rural household could
claim to land use rights based on person,
everyone have land right.
198415 years land tenure. Locally land shares
were frequently adjusted according to demographic
and marriage changes.
1983The first round of national contract land
allocation implemented.
10
Gender implications of land reform

• land will not be increased even if household
  member increases, and land will not be reduced
  even if household member die or married out
  during the tenure.
• Under the traditional social norms of patrilocal
  marriage system, longer and stable land tenure
  will impair womens land right potentially.

Married womencould not get land in husbands
home in short run, and hardly get revenue from
her land quota in native family. Divorced/Widowed
could not bring the land when left the family.
Unmarried womengirls get less land quota than
boys especially who were expected to get married
around the reallocation of land, as they are
expected to move out from the home.
Women are encountered with higher and higher risk
losing land due to marriage
11
Womens Landlessness under Rural Land Policy
Scheme

• Big difference among women married during
  different periods.

Data
Increasing proportion of do not have a land
bringing revenues
12
The reasons why do not have a profitable land
Expropriated without refund, 5
Lose after marriage, 7
13
The DV occurrence is little higher for the women
losing land right after marriage
Beat Verbal abuse Beat/verbal
Entitled to profitable land 8.5 18.8 31.4
Entitled, but no revenue 9.2 18.1 36.2
Lose directly due to marriage 9.4 18.4 33.5
Never have land 7.0 15.3 30.9
Expropriated 9.5 15.8 26.3
Total 8.5 18.8 31.7
14
  (1) Verbal abuse (1) Verbal abuse (2) Beat (2) Beat (3) Beat/verbal (3) Beat/verbal
  OR S.E OR S.E OR S.E
Entitled to profitable land Entitled to profitable land          
Entitled, but no revenue 1.259 0.317 1.187 0.384 1.435 0.296
Lose directly due to marriage 1.310 0.229 1.487 0.325 1.265 0.180
Never have land 0.980 0.183 1.144 0.280 1.180 0.172
Expropriated 0.410 0.330 0.303 0.313 0.393 0.237
15
Empirical finding

1. Due to changing land policies and patriarchy,
   patrilocal norms, proportion of women losing
   land increased rapidly.
2. While losing entitlement to a profitable land
   could increase womens risk being abused.

Policy implication
The household land quota should be allocated
based on the actual number of the residing family
in the new round of land distribution.
Long run
The land right of the married women should be
protected
In the urbanization process, women without land
should also be refunded due to land
expropriation, especially for women who remain
land in their native families, the refund should
be paid directly to those married out womens own
bank account, not the household.
Currently
16
Profile of Economic Empowerment of Women in
China beyond land
17
Womens economic empowerment can prevent ADV to
some extent
Compared with those economically deprived women,
women with off-farm job, entitled with a house,
and with personal back account are a little
better off.
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SOME OTHER THOUGHTS

• Current momentum around womens economic
  empowerment offers huge scope for bringing about
  real changes in womens lives in China.
• But earning an income or having access to
  economic resources cannot be assumed to bring
  automatic benefits for women.
• How increased EE can be translated into changes
  in the life that women are able to make at
  least at household level? (calls for more
  specific and accurate survey and research )
• And what are the impacts of womens greater
  access to resources on gender relations and
  social norms more broadly?

19
Anti-domestic Violence poster in China not let
the DV destroy your family.
Poster of anniversary of the day for elimination
of violence against women say no to DV, and
cherish happy life.