BEIJING â€" Li Yan, a woman from Sichuan Province who was convicted of killing her abusive husband, faces execution. As activists in China fight to save her life, three women last week delivered a petition with more than 12,000 signatures to the National People’s Congress in Beijing, demanding transparency in the drafting of a planned national law against domestic violence.
Fed up with being excluded from the decision-making process, Chinese feminists not only want a law against domestic violence, they also want to know exactly what’s going into it, in a new push for accountability from their opaque government. The petition, “Asking for Openness and Transparency in the Process of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law,†spells that out.
Bai Fei, a university student from Shanghai, is one of three women behind the petition. Signatures were gathered online, the Yunnan Information News reporte..
Ms. Bai grew up in a family where her father beat her mother. She wanted to know if the new law would help people like her mother, the newspaper wrote.
“When the law comes out, will my mother be able to get legal protection†asked Ms. Bai. “What level of protection will the law afford her If I can’t know what’s going into it, I won’t feel at all safe.â€
“What if the law doesn’t consider her injuries severe enough’’ she asked. “After they divorced, my father continued to use violence against her, but not heavy violence. Would my mother still be protected by the lawâ€
Since 2000, 28 cities, regions and provinces in China have drawn up rules or policies against domestic violence, but there is no national law. The All-China Women’s Federation and other organizations, including grass-roots groups, have for years lobbied the central government to enact a law. Last year the congress agreed to include such a measure in its future legislative schedule. It is! not clear when a law might be adopted, but that is most likely to be some years away.
