China's first law against domestic violence has been finally passed. The law forbids any form of domestic violence, but does not necessarily protect the same-sex couples.
Previously, the country did not have a special law that covers violence in the family. Due to the conventional Chinese culture within the family, this issue has been ignored so as to stop shaming the whole clan.
The new domestic violence law in China has been accepted by the end of week-long bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee. It covers psychological abuse and cohabitation, meaning those unmarried couples who live together. Additionally, it helps simplify the process for getting restraining orders.
About one quarter of women has suffered violence in their marriage, as per All-China Women's Federation. However, only 40,000 to 50,000 complaints were registered every year. Thus, almost 90% of all the cases reported involve the abuse of husbands to their wives. With this, the new law will let the victims file for a personal protection order, which can be granted or denied by the court within 72 hours.
According to Guo Linmao, a Legislative Affairs Commission of parliament's standing committee member, the law had been created to answer some specific issues revealed. He also added, "There are a lot of examples of domestic violence between family members and also between people who cohabit. As for homosexuals in our country, we have not yet discovered this form of violence, so to give you a certain answer, it can be said that people who cohabit does not include homosexuals."
Furthermore, homosexuality is not something that is illegal in China. In fact, there are some cities in the country that have flourishing gay scenes, but no legal support for same-sex couples. The country is more likely not to legalize the same-sex marriage as well.
On the whole, this move will be able to protect the victims of violence. It is very important for a country to have this kind of law to keep peace and order in the community. Nonetheless, the exclusion of the gay couples to this law is still questionable.
