Domestic Violence Law of China and the Institutional Design of Counter-DV Mechanism

Abstract

Domestic violence (DV) is a pervasive social issue that requires efforts from multiple government departments and social groups to solve. It’s a disease that can be best tackled through a multi-agency counter-domestic violence mechanism, which demands collective commitment and inter-department collaboration. However, when the Domestic Violence Law of the People’s Republic of China (DV law) was enacted on March 1st of 2016, a deliberation and coordination agency called Working Committee on Children and Women (WCCW) was designated as the leading law enforcement organ to perform counter-domestic-violence tasks. This article attempts to argue that such an organ does not process the capacity to propel other respective departments to actively engage in the making of a multi-agency counter-domestic violence mechanism. Therefore, the designation of the WCCW as Anti-Domestic Violence Law’s major enforcement organ is counterproductive to its ultimate goal: the elimination of domestic violence.