Written police warnings and court protective orders are two of the most prominent features of China’s landmark DV Law, the culmination of two decades of advocacy by women’s rights organizations following Hillary Clinton’s famous speech in Beijing at the 1995 World Women’s Conference on stronger protection of women’s rights. Given the prevalence of domestic violence in China, which the All China Women’s Federation estimates afflicts about a third of all Chinese families, the new measures introduced by the DV Law have been hailed as important legal remedies for improving victim safety. The DV Law also sets the stage for local experiments in new implementation mechanisms to improve the government’s response to domestic violence. I have participated in several pilot projects in Hunan and have observed firsthand both the progress and challenges entailed.
