Freedom from Violence and the Law: A Global Perspective in Light of Chinese Domestic Violence Law, 2015
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Violence against women is a heinous human rights violation, global menace, a public health threat and a moral outrage.No matter where she lives, no matter what her culture, no matter what her society, every woman and girl is entitled to live free of fear.She has the universal human right to be free from all forms of violence so as to fulfil her full potential and dreams for the future.States have a corresponding responsibility to turn that right into reality.-Ban Ki-Moon, March 2013. 2 After a decade long struggle we now have a law, but if it does not address the problems of battered women and girls how will it make a difference?-Guo JianMei, Women's Rights lawyer, China. U. Pa. J. Int'l L.[Vol.37:1China was one of the first countries to ratify the global bill of rights for women, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in 1980, a year after the convention came into operation.6 Yet thirty five years after the ratification of the CEDAW China is still reviewing a draft national law against violence.Today, one in three women in the world are subject to violence in their lifetime.And in most of the world, no place is less safe for a woman than her own home.7 In China, according to a 2011 study by the All China Women's Federation (ACWF), a quarter of women in China have been victims of some form of domestic violence.8 Regional rates of violence inflicted by intimate partners reach as high as forty-three percent in South Asia and some national violence studies show that up to seventy percent of women have experienced violence from an intimate partner.9 The total exceeds 700 million women worldwide.10 A recent special series of The Lancet on addressing violence against women provides an excellent overview of the current evidence, and includes a Call to Action.It highlights that growing international recognition creates opportunities for renewed government commitment, although solutions will not be quick or easy.To address the underlying causal drivers, governments, working together with communities and civil society, need to address the social, institutional and economic structures that subordinate women, emphasizing prevention.11 on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at U.N.
Authors: Rangita de Silva de Alwis, Jeni Klugman
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: University of Pennsylvania
OpenAlex ID: W2200337301