Overcoming Domestic Violence in Contemporary China. Gender Policy and the Evolution of Family and Marriage Law (part 1)

The problem of overcoming gender inequality and preventing domestic violence is relevant for most countries of East Asia, including dynamically and extensively developing China. On the basis of culturological and socio-cultural approaches the article examines the problem of family (domestic) violence in China: from its origins to the present. It analyzes the state gender policy and the evolution of family and marriage law in the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as PRC). Examples of international legal acts, international rankings and statistical data are given. A discussion of the results of the study is presented. It is noted that the national policy of the People’s Republic of China in the implementation of gender equality, as well as accessibility of resources for women, is reflected in the legal, political, economic and social spheres of society. But the legal status of women exceeds family and economic status, which indicates the declared and real situation. This also explains why, in the world rankings (gender inequality and gender gap) China has significantly different positions. It argues for the interrelation of some outdated cultural traditions that support gender inequality and their influence on the “social inheritance” of domestic violence. The stages and positive complex resolution of emerging contradictions of social development in the process of “socialism with Chinese specificity” and gender issues are substantiated