Police, women's federations and social service organs, in addition to close relatives, can apply for orders for those with none or limited civil capacity or those who cannot do so themselves as a result of physical force or threats.
Once the order is granted, courts can prohibit the abuser from harassing, stalking or contacting the applicant; order the abuser to move out of the home; or adopt various other measures to protect the applicant.
Should the abuser violate the protection order, they may be fined up to 1,000 yuan, detained for up to 15 days or face criminal charges in serious offences.
PROTECTION FOR THE VULNERABLE
The draft also sets out to enhance protection for particularly vulnerable groups: Minors, elders, disabled people, pregnant or breastfeeding women and the critically ill will all be entitled to special attention.
Police must notify civil affairs departments should they find that those with none or limited civil capacity have been harmed, or are under threat and are unattended, and escort them to temporary shelters, support services or welfare centers, the draft reads.
It also requires social workers, doctors and teachers, to report suspected abuse. Should they fail to do so, they will be held liable in cases with serious consequences together with those in charge of the institutions concerned and their superior organs. Police will protect the privacy of whistleblowers.
STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Lawmakers on Monday acknowledged that the second draft of the law is already a huge step forward from the previous version, but they want more.
In a two-hour panel discussion over the draft law held on Monday afternoon, at least five legislators voiced concerns over the lack of explicit reference to "sexual violence" in the new draft.
"Sexual abuse has become a prominent social problem [and] constitutes a great proportion of domestic violence, and it should be included in the new law," said legislator Zhang Ping.
He added that jurisdiction of the counterdomestic violence law should also cover "economic control."
"It is not entirely unheard of that people, in many cases women and elders, are stripped of personal freedom as a result of economic disparity between family members," Zhang said.
His words were echoed by lawmaker Dong Zhongyuan, who argued that the definition of domestic violence was still too abstract, and failed to communicate what constitutes abuse.
Xu Qian, deputy head of the NPC provincial committee in Fujian Province, meanwhile, said the counterdomestic violence law should be extended to apply to ex-spouses, too, quoting a court case in which a divorced woman incited her 13-year-old son, who is too young to be held criminal accountable, to kill her ex-husband who had stalked, beaten and raped her.
The ex-husband died in a car crash before they could fulfill the scheme.
