Secrecy still shrouds domestic abuse

Dong Shanshan's life was short and painful. She was only 26 when she died from renal failure after two months in the hospital.

Her husband Wang Guangyun who started beating her six moths after they married was imprisoned for merely six years and six months. She wanted a divorce but didn't pursue it. The police responded eight times to domestic violence calls and Dong explained her situation to a court and a doctor. It did no good.

"The police came and went, saying it was not their job to deal with such domestic troubles," Zhang Xiufen, Dong's mother recalls.

For the past 10 years, the All-China Women's Federation, experts and many women have been pressing for adoption of a national anti-domestic violence law in China. In October, the Anti-Domestic Violence Network of the China Law Society (ADVN) submitted a proposed draft law to the National People's Congress, China's legislature. The proposal is being examined. The last proposal in 2003 was not recommended and hence, not voted upon.

The latest statistics from ADVN indicate that between 2004 and 2008, women's groups across the country dealt with an average of 40,000 to 50,000 domestic violence complaints each year. The number has been growing. "Rates have increased over the past 10 years and more problems of domestic violence have come to light," says Xia Yinlan, a law professor of the China University of Political Science and Law.

"Ten years ago, few people had any idea about domestic violence," says Xia, who also leads the team of anti-domestic violence experts who submitted the latest proposal.