China's largely rubber stamp parliament on Sunday passed the country's
first law against domestic violence, which covers unmarried people who cohabit
but does not protect gay couples, a senior lawmaker said.
China previously did not have a special law covering
violence in the family, an issue often ignored to avoid bringing shame upon the
family in traditional Chinese culture.
The new law prohibits any form of domestic violence, including
psychological abuse, and helps streamline the process for obtaining restraining
orders.
According to the Communist Party-run All-China Women's Federation, about
one quarter of women have suffered violence in their marriage, though only some
40,000 to 50,000 complaints are registered each year.
Of the cases reported last year, almost 90 percent involved abuse by
husbands of their wives.
The new law also covers cohabitation, meaning
those who are not related but live together are also included.
Asked at a news conference whether this
covered gay couples, Guo Linmao, a member of the Legislative Affairs Commission
of parliament's standing committee, said the law had been formulated in
response to specific problems discovered.
"There are a lot of examples of
domestic violence between family members, and also between people who
cohabit," Guo said.
"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."
While homosexuality is not illegal in
China, and large cities have thriving gay scenes, there are no legal
protections for same-sex couples and the country is not likely to legalize
same-sex marriage soon.
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