It doesn't take a lot of time in China to see household violence play out in supermarkets, in schools, or even in the streets. But exactly how common is domestic violence in China? In the face of recent evidence from Peking University that more than 70 percent of all children suffer from some form of physical or emotional abuse, not to mention the never-stopping stories of spousal abuse (by both men and women) that pour out in the press, we wanted to take an episode to look into the issue and ask what the hell is going on?

That's why this week, Sinica is delighted to host Su Wenying and Cai Yiping, two leading advocates of women and children's rights who join us for a discussion of domestic violence in China. Our conversation starts with a discussion of the current legal landscape, and moves on to the prevalence of domestic abuse with some surprising stats about how education and social status does and does not affect the prevalence of violence in this country, before we look at public awareness of the problem, and ask to what extent it seems likely to change anytime soon.

Enjoy listening to Sinica? We invite everyone to download this show as an standalone mp3 file for listening offline or sharing. If you have any feedback on the show or suggestions about topics you'd like to hear covered, please feel welcome to leave a note in our comments section, or send us an email at sinica@popupchinese.com.
 said on
December 9, 2014
Great show!

Could you recommend a reputable charity benefiting victims of domestic abuse in China?

Thanks for focusing on this topic.

Nicki Johnson
 said on
December 10, 2014
Any way you could share the recommendations with us? I am especially interested in that Youku video and the sci-fi novels. Thank you!
 said on
December 10, 2014
Thanks 遊俠 -- here they are:

The Chinese Constitution (Jeremy)

Didi Dache – the Chinese UBER (Jeremy)

我从新疆来 – I came from Xinjiang (Su Wenying)

261 major figures in Chinese History (Su Wenying)

The Three Body Problem / 三体 (Su Wenying)

Alternative uses of The Rice Cooker (Cai Yiping)

Financial Times - The Arab Spring Idealist who died for ISIS
(Kaiser)

 said on
January 8, 2015
Every Sinica podcast I've heard has been excellent, but this is by far the best in my opinion.

I think one of the most important points made was that you can have a law, but it's useless unless it is enforced.

Also, while I agree that children should be aware of what abuse is, so that they can grow up abuse-free and not repeat their parents' offenses, you can't just put that burden on children. Parents and children, teachers, law enforcement, all need to be educated and assisted at the same time for this to work.

I hope that the new law established in December will have a considerable effect for the positive.

Best wishes to the courageous women, and for this podcast!!
Mark Lesson Studied