A recent survey shows that exactly half of those questioned believe there is a lot of domestic violence around them, and more than 20 percent say it has occurred in their own homes. Almost 80 percent think the introduction of anti-domestic violence legislation will curb it.

The results are based on an online questionnaire conducted by the social survey center of China's Youth Daily via Wenjuan.com. A total of 2,012 people answered the questions online.

When asked who are the most vulnerable to domestic violence, 85 percent chose women, 64 percent choose children, and 51 percent chose the elderly.

When asked to give the definition of domestic violence, 83 percent defined it as physical conflict and assault, and 61 percent opted for verbal abuse and threats. Other figures included: sexual violence (57 percent), detention (46 percent) and silent treatment (46 percent).

Asked how they themselves would deal with the problem of domestic violence, 46 percent would rely on mediation by relatives, 22 percent would say nothing, 9.4 percent would depend on neighbors to help matters, 9.2 percent wanted police intervention, and 8.3 percent would take legal action.

What are the causes of domestic violence? 60 percent believe that disloyalty or disharmony in emotional life is to blame, while 57 percent attribute the problem to bad habits such as gambling, alcoholism or drug abuse, and 53 percent believe it results from bad temper or lack of self-control.

In addition, pressure of work (44 percent), psychological problems (40 percent), family disputes (38 percent), badly-behaved children (37 percent), and lifestyle differences (31 percent) were all identified as factors likely to lead to domestic violence.

The survey also found that 78 percent of respondents believe that legislation against domestic violence will reduce the problem.