HEFEI, Dec. 30 -- Wu Honglian would not see her husband for weeks at a time, as he hid from debt collectors. When he reappeared finally, he would crawl into her bed and demand she fulfill her conjugal duties. Leaving her violated, and powerless.

Some people in her town sympathized with her situation, but even her relatives dared not intervene in the "family matter."

"I hope the new anti-domestic violence law can help me," said Wu, who only remains in her loveless marriage because her husband has threatened to take everything, and leave her destitute.

Domestic violence will no longer be a "family matter" but a legal issue that demands action from the court and police when China's first law on domestic violence, adopted on Sunday, will take effect in March 2016, marital lawyer Xu Xiaohua told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Nearly 25 percent of Chinese women have suffered violence in their marriage, according to the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF).

However, only a fraction report this abuse. The ACWF only receives about 40,000 complaints a year, with more than 88 percent of complaints it received in 2014 involved abuse of wives.

Domestic violence is considered an embarrassing private matter and, as such, has remained in the shadows in China. Even when the abuse is reported, it is often shuffled from police to women's federations to neighborhood committees like a hot potato no one wants to handle for too long, for fear of being burned.

The new anti-domestic violence law, however, clearly states that abuse of this kind is against the law and clarified measures that will protect victims, according to Zhang Yawei, law professor at Shandong Women's University.

"In the future, the police will have to take domestic violence seriously, taking notes, recording interviews, gathering evidence and medical records and so on," Zhang said.

When filing for divorce, many abused wives find it difficult to prove their suffering as the police are reluctant to gather evidence of domestic violence, Xu said.

The new law makes it clear: The government, police and social workers must take actions when domestic violence is reported, and in severe cases, restraining orders should be issued.

In addition, the police must act immediately when responding to reports of domestic violence.

Enforcement is another challenge as the court has limited resources to ensure the safety of the victims round the clock. Active cooperation from the police is needed to ensure the effectiveness of the restraining orders, Xu said.

While the new law may address the law-enforcement side of the issue, the fundamental challenge is changing attitudes toward domestic violence. The abused must know their rights, the abusers must understand the legal consequences, and law enforcers must take the offences seriously, Zhang said.

In addition, institutions, specialists and campaigns will be needed to change people's attitudes. "The law is only the first step," she added.

Up until this week, China had no specialized law on family abuse. References to the matter were included in other laws and regulations such as the Marriage Law, the Law on the Protection of Minors, and the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women.

Less than two decades ago, physical abuse was not even acceptable as grounds for divorce in China. In 2001 the Marriage Law was amended to explicitly ban domestic violence.