The unprecedented outbreak and continuous spread of the COVID-19 virus starting in December 2019 resulted in a strict lockdown and nationwide long-term home isolation, which has possibly led to increased levels of family violence in China. This commentary aims to explore two issues related to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family violence in China, with intimate partner violence as its most common form. These two issues are whether the COVID-19 pandemic has indeed had a negative impact on family violence and, if so, what its specific influences upon family violence in China have been. This commentary is largely descriptive and based upon previously published literature and public statistical reports from newspaper, government, and criminal justice sources on family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Despite the lack of relevant and accurate nationwide statistics on family violence in China, multiple reports seem to suggest that family violence has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase in family violence may be primarily due to the large-scale lockdown that aggravates family conflicts, economic distress and tension caused by the pandemic among family members, and inadequate support for victims of family violence during the pandemic. Family violence has become an important social issue that needs to be dealt properly and swiftly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as agencies and service sectors, need to be aware of the needs of family violence victims and provide appropriate and immediate assistance to the victims during the pandemic. A detailed discussion of the policy implications and suggestions for future research are provided at the end of this commentary.

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The Influence of the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Violence in China.

So far, no Chinese- or English-language journal investigations have been carried out on the entirety of research published on intimate partner violence (IPV) in China. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study was to analyze the contents of the totality of published IPV research articles indexed in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Specifically, the study aimed to investigate the input and output factors relating to published articles concerned with IPV, including their authors and contents. The CNKI was selected for investigation and analysis because it is the largest and most consulted academic online library in China. The analysis was conducted on 3,595 peer-reviewed journal articles on IPV over a 37-year period covering 1982-2018. The findings revealed that only 68 (1.89%) of the articles were empirically and quantitatively based. Findings among these 68 articles show that total contribution of IPV research has increased significantly over time in China, with increasing growth in the past two decades especially. Results also present summaries concerned with the reviewed studies' inputs (i.e., researchers' organizational affiliations, funding sources, and geographic settings), outputs (i.e., authors, journals, classifications, pages, topics, key words, definitions, theoretical approaches, samples, and methods), and outcomes (i.e., citations, downloads, prevalence rates, and correlates of violence). To sum, this is the first exploratory study of the unique and diverse body of IPV research in the Chinese-language and scientific literature. Overall, the study's results both help to inform future IPV research in China and foster and inform communications concerning IPV research globally.

A Scoping Review of 37 Years of Intimate Partner Violence Research in China

This study explores 63 homicide–suicide cases that include two or more homicide victims, in the People’s Republic of China. This is the first study to examine homicide–suicide in the Chinese context, following calls to develop a research strategy outside of the USA and Europe. Data are derived from a content analysis of Chinese news sources from 2000 to 2014. Findings show homicide–suicide offenders are likely to be married males living in rural cities who kill their intimate partners and/or children inside a residence using knives. Intimate partner conflict and extramarital affairs are precipitating factors in almost half of the incidents. Patterns of homicide–suicide in China are comparable to those in high-income countries, except that firearms are not the primary means in China and there is no evidence of “mercy killing” among older persons, as described in western homicide–suicide studies. Findings are related to the social and economic structure of Chinese society. Clinical and policy implications include the need for greater transparency and a nationwide homicide and suicide tracking system in China, stricter domestic violence laws, postmortem studies of the brains of homicide–suicide offenders, and psychological autopsies on homicide–suicide perpetrators.

Homicide–Suicide in China: an Exploratory Study of Characteristics and Types

Although this social phenomenon has existed in China for thousands of years, until recently family violence against wives, children, the elderly, and disadvantaged family members has not been a common concern. Research on family violence, such as its prevalence and related consequences, is also a relatively new field. As a result, the seriousness of family violence has not yet been fully considered. China’s very first Anti-Domestic Violence Law was passed in 2015 and it provided unprecedented legal protection to victims who suffer from domestic violence. In spite of its advancement in protecting family violence victims and deterring offenders, enforcement of the law remains a challenging task. By exploring and summarizing the existing literature and the relevant laws on family violence, this chapter addresses the relevant questions and extends the knowledge on family violence, as well as providing insight into its prevalence, and the legal and social responses in China.

Family Violence and the Legal and Social Responses in China

目的 探讨家庭暴力(DV)的社会人口学特征.方法采取多级分层随机抽样方法,用自编DV综合问卷,对300户有暴力家庭,以及按照家庭结构配对选取的300户无暴力家庭有关成员作调查访谈.结果施暴者与受虐者年龄组构成比均以30～39岁最高(分别为40.3%和27.1%),文化程度构成比均以小学以下为最高(分别为32.2%和43.1%).施暴者男性多于女性(70.1% vs 29.9%),受虐者女性多于男性(67.0% vs. 33.0%),两组性别差异有显著性(P <0.001),成年男性施暴的危险度是女性的5.0倍.成年施暴者受教育年限[(8.9±4.7)年]高于受虐者[(7.5±5.2)年](P <0.01),但低于对照组(P <0.05).成年施暴者月经济收入[(709.7±796.4)元]及其占家庭总收入比例[(24.1±32.2)%]均显著高于受虐组[(477.5±489.1)元和(17.3±26.0)%](P <0.05或P <0.01),但低于施暴对照组(P <0.05或P <0.01).男性自评经济状况差、占家庭经济收入比例低是DV的危险因子.结论家庭暴力高发年龄为以30～39岁,施暴者为男性居多,受虐者大多为女性,施暴者与受虐者的文化程度与经济收入均较低,特别是经济收入占家庭总收入比例低者容易受虐。

曹玉萍

Papers

Analysis of demographic features on domestic violence