Home>>Life
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 07, 2002

Beijing Billboards Decry Domestic Violence

More than 20 eye-catching billboards have been erected in downtown areas of the Chinese capital to promote the idea of rejecting domestic violence and protecting women's rights.


PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND


More than 20 eye-catching billboards have been erected in downtown areas of the Chinese capital to promote the idea of rejecting domestic violence and protecting women's rights.

The billboards depict a stern-looking young woman with one outstretched arm gesturing "no" or "stop", and a caption reading "Say no to domestic violence".

Sponsored by the Beijing Women's Federation and the family violence research institute of the China Law Society, the 22 billboards have been placed in Dongdan, Dongsi, Qianmen and Xuanwumen, all major commercial districts and tourist spots which used to be dominated by commercial ads.

The campaign is intended to alert everybody to the seriousness of domestic violence, said Zhao Shuhua, a staff member from the Beijing Women's Federation.

"Nowadays many Chinese still believe conflict between a husband and wife is a normal thing and private family business," said Zhao.

However, a recent survey conducted by the All-China Women's Federation showed that domestic violence exists in about 30 percent of the 270 million Chinese households and in 90 percent ofthese cases the husband is the perpetrator.

"Chinese women are often in a position of weakness in cases of family violence because many are financially reliant on their husbands," said Zheng Liyi, a Beijing sociologist.

Many women also choose to tolerate their husbands' violence as the traditional idea that women should be obedient and loyal to their husbands after marriage still prevails in China, Zheng added.

While in the past cases of domestic violence were more common in rural areas, the number of urban cases has begun to rise in recent years, according to experts.

A survey conducted by the Women's Federation in Guangzhou, capital of the booming Guangdong Province in south China, indicated that 51.7 percent of wife-beating husbands had an average education level above high school graduation. Many of these violence inflicters were college graduates or even had doctoral degrees and the title of professor.

China's newly-promulgated Marriage Law has defined domestic violence as a criminal act.

In February this year, a special work group on combating domestic violence was formed in Beijing. It aims to establish a network providing medical service and legal aid for victims of family violence.

A base was also set up in the suburban county of Yanqing to have wife-beaters referred to psychologists and law experts, said Zhao.

"After special training most realize the only decent and correct thing to do is to love and take care of their wives," she said.


Questions?Comments? Click here
    Advanced






China Says "No" to Domestic Violence



 


WTO Chief Says China is a Responsible Member ( 2 Messages)

Experts Reject 'China Threat' Theory ( 35 Messages)

HK Financial Secretary Confirmed Marriage with Chinese Diving Queen ( 18 Messages)

China's High-tech Development Geared to Marketable Industries ( 16 Messages)

Christian Designs Found in Tomb Stones of Eastern Han Dynasty ( 36 Messages)

Missing Chinese Girl Found Safe in US East Coast ( 3 Messages)



Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved