Domestic violence also affects men, social workers say
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-19 13:41

Women are not always on the receiving end of domestic violence, say social workers in the northern municipality of Tianjin, as they receive a growing number of maltreated husbands.

A retiree, a small man, recently sought help from a women's rights organization in downtown Tianjin, saying he was starving and dared not go home for fear his wife might beat him again. "I'm here because I don't know where else I can go. There's no organization to help male victims of domestic violence."

The man said his wife had beaten him when he tried to convince her to end her relationship with another man. "She threatened to kill me if I dared fight back," he told the officials. "She's bossy because she's making more money than I do."

The man said he never thought about divorcing her because it would be a "disgrace" to their children. "I only hope she'll stop using violence."

"We used to receive beaten wives, but have received several beaten husbands as well recently," said an official with the Hongshunli community service, an organization that was established to provide legal counseling to women victims of domestic violence.

Most of the male victims they received were middle-aged or elderly men, she said.

Despite the maltreatment from their wives, some victims still hesitate to talk about their problems, because home life is taken as a strictly private issue in Chinese culture.

"It's not that we've received too many beaten husbands, but the trend itself is quite serious and embarrassing, too," said the woman official.

Besides physical attacks, many male victims are suffering from psychological, violence from their spouses, according to Maishou Consulting Co., an intermediary service that acts as a matchmaker and mediator in family disputes.

"Some elderly men told us they were fed up with the verbal abuse from their wives, sometimes even in front of others," said Hao Maishou, president of the firm and an expert on gerontology at the Tianjin Municipal Academy of Social Sciences.

Marriage should be a partnership of equals, and despite their rising social status, women should not forget the traditional virtues upheld by generations of Chinese. "These include love for peace and harmony, as well as respect for others."

The problem of domestic violence is receiving more public attention, particularly from police, community services, legal agencies and judicial departments. "People should realize it's against the law to commit violence, even in their own homes," said Hao.

China's new marriage law, enacted in 2001, rules that victims of domestic violence are eligible for compensation and the perpetrators can face civil and criminal charges.

But statistics indicate domestic violence cases are still rising in China. A survey by the All-China Women's Federation showed about 30 percent of the 270 million families in China experienced violence in 2002, and over 90 percent of perpetrators were men.

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