The Legal Response to Domestic Violence in China

Abstract

This thesis critically evaluates the development of legal responses to domestic violence in China, with particular attention to how these responses are shaped by the cultural and political specificities of Chinese society. It explores how the extended family model and patriarchal structures influence both the experience of domestic violence and the legal system’s approach to it.
The investigation is driven by three objectives: first, to analyse how domestic violence has been conceptualised within Chinese law, particularly in relation to gender and intergenerational hierarchies; second, to identify the limitations of current legal frameworks that prioritise intergenerational conflict while underestimating gender-based harm; and third, to propose a more contextually grounded approach to addressing domestic violence in China, rather than relying on the direct transplantation of ideas
developed elsewhere.
To achieve these aims, the thesis addresses the following questions: How is domestic violence conceptualised in mainstream scholarship, and where does Chinese scholarship situate itself within this spectrum? What is the meaning of patriarchy in China? How does the extended family model, shaped by patriarchal traditions, complicate legal understandings of domestic violence? Why is the uncritical adoption of foreign responses inadequate in the Chinese context? And how can the legal system more effectively respond to domestic violence, particularly in terms of recognising gendered coercive control?
Through a combination of doctrinal analysis and socio-legal enquiry, the thesis argues that China’s existing legal frameworks insufficiently engage with the gendered dimensions of domestic violence. It reflects contextual variations in global violence scholarship and highlights the importance of understanding domestic violence within its specific socio-cultural and legal framework. The study concludes by advocating for a context-sensitive legal approach that foregrounds gender, incorporates the concept of coercive control, and recognises the complex interplay between intergenerational and gendered power dynamics in domestic settings.

Date of Award	30 Sept 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Joanne A F Conaghan (Supervisor) & Yvette Russell (Supervisor)