Chinese divorce courts are places of peril for women
In the name of social stability, judges make it tough for wives to end bad marriages
ACCORDING TO THE letter of the law, a Chinese family court should be a safe haven for Wang Fumei (not her real name), a 36-year-old battered wife and mother of two. In-store security cameras were rolling when her husband, a heavy-drinking gambler, came to the shop where she worked in southern China, and beat her without pity. The tape is now with the police. It gives Ms Wang grounds to invoke a law against domestic violence that took effect in 2016, allowing judges to punish abusive partners.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Still a man’s world”
From the March 27th 2021 edition
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