Tough facts about rape in China

A series of sex abuse cases in China has led to growing public awareness of sex crimes. Recently, sexual assaults on at least five school girls by local vagrants were investigated in Shandong province. Also in the news was a report of a Xiamen University professor accused of molesting and raping female students that went viral on the Internet.

According to a United Nations report based on police records of rapes in 130 countries from 2003 to 2012, the incidence of rape is not as high in China — at 2.1 per 100,000 people — as in the US (26.6), the UK (23.2), South Korea (12.7) and other countries. The UN report ranked China 81st in 130 countries surveyed. But does this actually mean China has such an extremely low rate of sex crimes?

The answer is no. In China, a large number of sexual abuses are not recorded. A 2013 multi-country survey by on sex crimes in the Asia Pacific region shows that 22.7 percent of Chinese males surveyed said they had raped a woman.

Furthermore, among those Chinese accused of committing sex crimes, only 24.9 percent were arrested, compared with an average of 32.5 percent for all the countries surveyed. Also, only 15.6 percent were imprisoned, compared with an average of 22.9 percent for all the other countries surveyed. On the surface, it appears that the rate of registered rape cases in China is lower than the average level of the Asia Pacific region, but the issue is more complicated.

Why is China's registered rate of rape cases so low?

Although victims of sex crimes suffer both physically and psychologically, they could suffer even more if others know they have been raped. This stigma prevents many victims from seeking justice.

Given the social pressures they face, some victims of sexual assault are unwilling to report the crime to the police. Since sex crimes usually happen in hidden places and involve only the offender and the victim, it is hard for the police to find the truth if victims do not report the crimes to the police.

More importantly, China's current law is quite porous in terms of the registration of rape cases. For example, same-gender rape is not stipulated in the law, so is not considered a crime. Meanwhile, marital rape is also not viewed as a crime.

Those legal loopholes have led to many sexual assault cases going unregistered by the police.