From 1980s to the beginning of this century, a number of countries in Europe and America have enacted policies of anti-domestic violence and experienced the evolution of policy frameworks. Two main policy frameworks have been created during the process of policy evolution. One is a gender-oriented framework, which emphasizes the connection of domestic violence with gender inequality. The other is a gender-neutral framework or non-gender framework which suggests that domestic violence should be brought into the existing issues of criminal justice. It deemphasizes the gender inequality of violence. The gender-framework is often adopted in the countries with a higher proportion of women in politics or active women's organizations. As a part of initiatives for gender equality, it pays more attention to care for the violence victims, women's empowerment, and combination of other policies against gender inequality. On the other hand, in countries where the discourse of gender equality is marginalized, governments are more likely to take gender-neutral framework in their anti-domestic violence policy, incorporating policies of anti-domestic violence into the existing criminal judicial or administrative issues. This non-gender framework is less possible to marginalize the domestic violence problems as ″women's issues,″ but its disadvantage is the lack of attention on gender inequality in domestic violence, and more focuses on punishment of the perpetrators rather than protection of the victims. In addition, national systems, political orientation, women's political influence and international circumstances are determinants that can influence the policy frameworks in its evolution of anti-domestic violence.. Thus, a country's adoption of a certain policy framework implies less the absolute rationality or superiority of certain framework itself, but it reflects more of the results of game playing among powers that support a given policy framework. In China, the first “Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as“Anti-domestic Violence Law”) was enacted at the end of the year 2015, and has taken effect since March 1st, 2016. In fact, there have been policies concerning the domestic violence in some legal documents before then. For instance, in the “Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women″and the″Constitution of the People's Republic of China,″women as a vulnerable group are protected and women abuse is explicitly prohibited. By contrast, the newly enacted “Anti-domestic Violence Law″no longer emphasizes women as the exclusive victims of domestic violence, and it extends to″family members”and broader″people who live together.″These changes reflect that China's anti-domesticviolence policy is moving towards some more rigorous, more targeted objectives. However, how to accept the value of gender equality in the mainstreaming of gender equality is still in question. The experiences of foreign countries give China enlightenment in both theory and practice in coordination of responsibility, as well as in the cooperation between governments, women's organizations, women's participation in politics and public awareness promotion, etc., so as to further improve China's anti-domestic violence policy framework.
郭夏娟 郑熹. 国外反家庭暴力政策框架变迁及其对我国的启示[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2017, 3(2): 174-183.
GuoXiajuan Zheng Xi. The Evolution of Anti-Domestic Violence Policy Framework in Foreign Countries and Its Enlightenment to China. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2017, 3(2): 174-183.