City bigamists mostly migrants

Most victims in bigamy cases in the city of Dongguan are the left-behind wives of migrant workers according to an analysis by a court in the Guangdong province city.

Eighty-five percent of offenders in 16 bigamy cases between 2009 and 2013 were migrant workers, the No.2 People's Court of Dongguan found in a recent report on the issue. Most victims were wives from their original homes, Nandu Daily reported Wednesday.

The court found 14 defendants guilty. They were imprisoned between six to 15 months. Bigamists face a maximum sentence of two years in the country's criminal law.

However in practice, considering the relatively minor harm to society, the penalty is usually light, the court was quoted as saying by the Guangdong province-based newspaper.

Part of the problem is that hukou residency regulations prohibit migrant workers from bringing their spouses to the cities with them, noted sociologist Li Yinhe.

Not just Dongguan, but many other cities with floating populations are also seeing people separated from their hometown spouses embark on local relationships, Li told the Global Times.

"The problems need to be addressed," she said.

A total 1,800 couples filed for divorce in Dongguan last year. Half came from outside Dongguan, according to data released by the Intermediate People's Court of Dongguan, and in 70 percent of cases the husbands were at fault.

Many divorcing husbands concealed or transferred their property, Li said, leaving their original wives at a disadvantage.

Although the Marriage Law of China stipulates the party at fault should be given less or no property in a divorce, which requires the wounded party to identify and produce evidence, Li said.

That was hard for such women to do coming from out of town.

"They don't have the money or resources to hire a private detective to investigate the income of their husbands," she said.

Both parties in marriage have the right to know and dispose of each other's income, said Wu Changzhen, a professor of the China University of Political Science and Law.

Out-of-town women, who are usually not well educated, don't know the law and usually choose to keep their suffering to themselves, Wu said.

There are other problems for these wives of migrant workers left behind in their hometowns, Wu pointed out.

With few young male family members around at home, many are vulnerable to sexual harassment.

"They don't report it to police out of fear of retaliation," Wu said.

Women needed to become more economically independent, Lu Jianru, deputy court president of the Intermediate People's Court of Dongguan, told Nandu Daily.

"Women should at least know the financial situation of the household," Lu, who has judged divorce cases for years, told the Guangzhou-based newspaper, "You can't have no idea of how many houses the couple has."