A recent survey by the All-China Women's Federation shows that 16 percent of married women have been beaten by their spouses, while five percent and 2.6 percent of women, respectively, said that they have been mentally or sexually hurt by their husbands.

One third of wives list family violence as the worst among all kinds of infringement of women's rights, the survey found.

This clearly indicates that family violence is common in China, and women are the main victims, according to an official in charge of the women's rights department of the federation.

In 2002, women's federations at all levels received 36,600 complaints about family violence, up nearly 40 percent year-on-year, while the number of letters complaining of violence between husband and wife approached 30,000, up nearly 30 percent.

Meanwhile, children are also victims of family violence, according to a research project conducted by the China Law Society. Two-thirds of children fall victim to family violence during their childhood. Sixty percent of people who treat their spouse violently also assault their children, the society reported.

(People's Daily   December 1, 2003)