Child Welfare in China
By Danfeng Wang, MSW

The design of a country’s child protection system is driven by its ideological traditions and culture. Known as a country dominated by eastern culture, China has a different view toward child abuse and child protection.

There is no official data about the incidence and prevalence of child abuse in China. As a matter of fact, because the priority of current policies regarding children focuses on access to health insurance and education, child abuse is not yet a public concern in China, while child neglect is completely out of the picture.

According to research conducted among 485 Chinese college students, 94.6% respondents report a history of child abuse, including physical abuse (88%), emotional abuse (88%), and sexual abuse (26.6%). Among elementary school students (1481), 62.4% report having experienced physical abuse, while 25.5 % reported sexual abuse. Compared to data from the United States, the rates of child abuse in China are much higher, but this research has low reliability because the questionnaire is guided by western culture, which does not adapt well to the situation in China.

Compared to the United States, the child protection system in China has many differences.

First, the definition of child abuse in China is narrow. In China, people generally understand child maltreatment to be a criminal act. However, the act of maltreating a child must be serious, malicious in intent, frequent and continuous for a long period of time. Child abuse only refers to severe abusive behaviors. In addition, the criminal charges against “Abuse Crime” are also light. According to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Article 260, “Aggregately abusive family members will have less than two years imprisonment, detention or control as punishment; committed the crime of the preceding paragraph, cause serious injuries, deaths, will have more than two years and less than seven years in prison.”

Secondly, respecting the family is a significant characteristic in Chinese culture. The Chinese always have a large extended family, providing child care and protection. In addition, Chinese family structure is influenced by traditional values—Filial Piety, which is considered the first virtue in Chinese culture. Fathers exercise enormous power over their children, and tolerant parental conduct is viewed as a part of filial piety and respect to familism. Moreover, Chinese people have a unique family value system that puts family above individual and personal needs. A large number of parents practice physical discipline with their children because their children exhibit behavior that does not meet their expectations or causes the family shame.

Third, the Chinese government has a voluntary child abuse reporting system. Cases of severe abuse are investigated by the police and go through the criminal justice system, while less severe cases are dealt by the Women’s Association Department of Children, Neighborhood Committees, and Workers Union. They are responsible for providing counseling, education and supervision to family members. According to Criminal Law of the PRC, cases of maltreatment not involving serious injuries or death will be handled only if there is a complaint, either by victims themselves, by relatives or by a prosecutor. Usually, after reported, child victims stay at home unless there is a chance that more abusive behavior could happen. In these cases, child victims may live with their extended family members.

Fourth, a partial termination of parental rights is another signature of child protection in China. In order to terminate parental rights, the parent(s) need to be sued by the victims, relatives, neighborhood committees or protect Minors society. Although the courts could terminate parental rights, the child and the rights of guardians will be transferred into a volunteer home, usually grandparents or extended family members. Biological parents or former guardians still have to pay for living expense for the child.

Child abuse is an overlooked social problem in China. The child protection system is highly defined by traditional Chinese culture and far from being well established.