Blog 9: Domestic Violence in China

Summary:

Kim Lee met her husband Li Yang in China in 1999 while he was lecturing about a program called "Crazy English." They soon moved to China and created the business, and soon had their first child. When the couple began thinking about buying a house, Lee was told that her name would not be put on the title of the house, but she didn't think anything of it because she didn't have a bank account as it was, and it didn't seem like that big of an issue. Soon, the abuse began. Lee reported that it began as a gentle shove, but soon turned into slapping and punching, even to the point where he bashed her head into the floor in front of their daughter. Lee also reported that her husband wouldn't discuss his real estate business with her, but only with his sisters and mother, and those were the names that were on the titles of all the homes. She felt that she had been trapped in her relationship, as so many women do, because of the dependence that these women have on their husbands to keep custody of their children and other things. The police wouldn't believe them, even if they had photos, because the husband's argument would always overpower the wife's. Because of some photos that Lee had posted online of her abuse, she was (finally) able to divorce her abusive husband in February of 2013. She is now a hope and hero for Chinese women.

Analysis:

This article was very interesting to read because of the emotions that you could feel because of who the author was. Because the author was someone who had been in an abusive relationship, versus a reporter looking into this situation, the audience gets to experience the issue first-hand. This article also gives a really good insight into the sexism and gender inequality that exists in the police force and judicial system in China (and in many other parts of the world.) Because she didn't have bruises on her at the time of her second doctor's appointment (yes, second, because the first one wasn't "approved") she had to rely on the pictures that were posted on the internet to even get approved to divorce him, because the jury listened to her husband's testament over her own. This has to do with the male-dominated society that China has (along with many other countries) and the fact that so many women are put in this position of feeling trapped by their husbands either by money, kids, or property. Lee does a great job of expressing her desperation in the situation to get her and her kids away from her husband, and that does a lot for the audience.


http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/the-system-is-designed-to-make-you-give-up-an-american-tackles-domestic-vio