Domestic violence is related to the rights and interests of women, children and other socially disadvantaged groups. Family is the cell of society, and the harmony and stability of family members is the basis of social stability and the requirement of building a harmonious socialist society. Domestic violence not only affects family happiness, but also is not conducive to social stability. Its seriousness and harmfulness have gradually attracted the attention of the whole society and even the international community. According to a survey conducted by the All-China Women's Federation in 2002, 30% of the 270 million families in China have domestic violence, of which 90% are men. Every year, about 654.38+million families are disintegrated due to domestic violence. Opposing and eliminating domestic violence is the responsibility of a country and the common responsibility of the whole society. In order to eliminate domestic violence,1999165438+15 October, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, officially designating165438+125 October as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women every year. On the occasion of the eighth International Day against Domestic Violence, the author, as a cadre of women's federations engaged in letters and visits, talks about the present situation, causes and preventive measures of domestic violence in our city.
The concept of "domestic violence" was first put forward in the new Marriage Law revised and promulgated on April 28th, 2000/KLOC-0. The Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China (I) clearly stipulates that "domestic violence" refers to the behavior that the perpetrator causes certain harm to the body and spirit of family members by beating, binding, maiming, forcibly restricting personal freedom or other means. From 200/KLOC-0 to 2005, the Rights and Interests Department of the Municipal Women's Federation received an average of more than 300 letters and visits every year, of which domestic violence cases accounted for about 70%, indicating that the problem of domestic violence in our city is still very serious and should be paid attention to by all relevant departments. Although domestic violence is a common illegal act, if it is not stopped in time, it will lead to many vicious cases. 1995 Zhang, an employee of the steel plant in fulaerji district, was severely beaten by her husband Qu, who was a policeman in the reeducation-through-labor camp, and was seriously injured by pouring gasoline. His condition is very bad. At the end of 2002, Ma, a self-employed man in jianhua district, was knocked unconscious by her husband, tied his hands and feet, and pushed down from upstairs, causing his death. Although these perpetrators were severely punished by the law in the end, they left us with endless thoughts: why can a husband do such a black hand to his wife who is with him day and night? Is there such deep hatred between husband and wife? This shows that domestic violence is not only a legal issue, but also a social issue. Its existence is the result of multiple factors, mainly for four reasons:
The influence of the first feudal husband power thought. The long-term cultural foundation of feudal society in China was a male-centered culture, and the status of men and women in the family and social structure was extremely unequal. Although the feudal and backward culture has been replaced by socialist civilization after the founding of New China; Our party has always advocated equality between men and women and made it the basic national policy of the country, but the ideology of male chauvinism still exists in some people's bones. Many men also take it for granted that "my wife bought a horse, so I can ride it and hit it" and "the wife who was knocked down wiped her face off". Therefore, when there is a conflict between the two sexes, men will inevitably use their killer weapon-violence.
The second woman can't be independent economically, which leads to the loss of personal dignity. In the petition cases received by the Municipal Women's Federation, because many women can't live independently, they can only swallow their voices in the face of violence, which invisibly encourages the arrogance of the perpetrators and leads to the breeding of domestic violence. In March, 20001,a woman surnamed Luo came to the Rights and Interests Department of the Women's Federation to petition. Luo is 28 years old and her husband is a railway conductor. Because Luo didn't have a job, her husband's family disagreed when she got married. After marriage, Luo gave birth to a girl, catching up with her in-laws and being laid off. The whole family only depends on her husband to support their families, and the economy is very tight. Luo's husband and family began to dislike Luo and beat her many times. Luo found the Municipal Women's Federation in despair. While criticizing and educating Luo's husband and family, we asked Luo if he wanted a divorce. Luo said that she still has feelings for her husband, but he dislikes her because she can't be independent economically, which leads to a heavy family burden. Luo also said that he had never found a suitable job because of his poor health. We advised Luo to stand on his own two feet and not stay at home when he is 28 years old. With our help, Luo set up a stall himself, and with a certain income, his marriage was stable.
In the face of domestic violence, the third woman doesn't know how to resist, and she just compromises and obeys, which is also the reason why domestic violence exists. In the petition cases received by the Municipal Women's Federation, some women who are financially independent and even have excellent conditions in all aspects are also suffering from domestic violence. June 5438+October 2002 10, the Municipal Women's Federation received a female doctor named Bai, who cried to us about her fifteen-year unhappy marriage. Dr. Bai is the director of surgery in a hospital. He has a bachelor's degree and excellent medical skills. He is very kind and popular. Her husband works as a driver in a certain unit, but such a decent family has terrible domestic violence. Bai's husband often drinks alcohol and sexually abuses her after drinking. If he doesn't obey, he will be beaten up. Bai's personality is weak. Although he received a college education, his thoughts are still very feudal and conservative. He felt that "it's a shame to wash one's dirty linen in public" and was afraid that divorce would affect his reputation, so he put up with her husband's behavior. As a result, her husband not only did not repent, but tortured her more and more: he controlled all the income and expenses of the family and prohibited her from having any social contacts, but he had an affair with other women, so there was no proper relationship. Nevertheless, Bai doesn't want a divorce. Finally, her husband actually asked her for a divorce, and Bai felt that he should give himself a statement. While comforting the dialogue, we also criticized her weakness and encouraged her to bravely take up legal weapons to safeguard her legitimate rights and interests. Finally, Bai filed a divorce lawsuit with the court, demanding that her husband compensate for the loss, and the court supported it.
The tolerance and neglect of the fourth society provide a big environment for the existence of domestic violence. For a long time, domestic violence has been regarded as a family matter. Under normal circumstances, few relevant departments take the initiative to take care of it. "Honest officials can't break housework" and "couples don't hold grudges when fighting" have all become excuses for the relevant departments to ignore domestic violence, making domestic violence a legal vacuum. 200 1 Article 43 of the Marriage Law, which was revised and promulgated, stipulates that "if domestic violence or maltreatment of family members is committed, the victim shall have the right to make a request, and the residents' committee and villagers' committee and the unit to which he belongs shall dissuade and mediate ... If the victim makes a request, the public security organ shall impose administrative punishment in accordance with the legal provisions on administrative penalties for public security." This article clearly stipulates the statutory obligation organs to stop domestic violence, but in practice these departments have not fully played their role. According to statistics, in 2005, the Rights and Interests Department of the Municipal Women's Federation received 300 petition cases involving domestic violence, of which only 20% were mediated by neighborhood committees and their units, and only 30% were punished by public security organs according to law. When dealing with domestic violence cases in practice, judicial organs often refuse to deal with them on the grounds that "harm" has not reached a certain level or simply "housework". This tolerance and neglect not only did not stop the perpetrators, but encouraged them. When domestic violence does not reach the level of crime, it is a general illegal act, and the provisions of Article 10 of the Law on Public Security Administration Punishment should be applied. "The types of public security management punishment are divided into: (1) warning; (2) a fine; (3) Administrative detention ... "If the harmful consequences caused by domestic violence reach the level of" minor injury "or" serious injury "through forensic identification, it is a criminal act, and the perpetrator shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to Article 234 of the Criminal Law.
Fifth, it is difficult to obtain evidence, and the compensation for divorce damage caused by domestic violence is difficult to achieve.
Article 46 of the Marriage Law stipulates that "in any of the following circumstances, the innocent party has the right to claim damages ... (3) As a tort remedy, domestic violence damages not only punish the innocent party economically, but also soothe the innocent party's harm. Therefore, distinguishing right from wrong and resolving contradictions are conducive to social stability and unity. However, in practice, the court requires the parties to give evidence according to the principle of "whoever advocates gives evidence". It is very difficult for the parties to obtain evidence on their own for various reasons, and it is difficult to achieve damages. According to the investigation, Qi No.2 Law Firm represented 15 cases of divorce caused by domestic violence in 2005, of which 0 cases were awarded damages by the court; In 2005, the jianhua district Court of Qi tried 200 divorce cases caused by the above reasons, of which 2 cases were awarded damages. Because "domestic violence" occurs within the family, few third parties can be used as witnesses; If one party firmly denies it, it is difficult to finalize the case only by photos, injury records and hospitalization certificates; There are also some insiders who are unwilling to testify in court for fear of retaliation. Therefore, compensation for divorce damages caused by domestic violence is difficult to achieve.
To sum up, anti-domestic violence is a systematic project, which requires the joint efforts of the whole society and the whole people, and it is necessary to start from all aspects and build a socialized rights protection work pattern against domestic violence. Specific preventive measures are as follows:
Take social relief measures to help women who suffer from domestic violence. Over the years, the Municipal Women's Federation has been actively coordinating relevant departments to carry out anti-domestic violence work and established a series of "anti-domestic violence" institutions. On March 7, 2002, the Municipal Women's Federation, in coordination with the Municipal Bureau of Justice, set up the Women's Rights Protection Department of the Municipal Legal Aid Center in the Municipal Women's Federation to provide legal aid to poor women who are victims of domestic violence. At present, women's federations in 16 counties (cities) have established women's rights protection departments. On April 10, 2003, the Municipal Women's Federation coordinated with the Municipal Public Security Hospital to set up the Municipal Women's Federation Domestic Violence Disability Appraisal Center, with the purpose of providing strong evidence for the judicial organs to handle cases and punishing the perpetrators through the examination and appraisal of the injuries of victims of domestic violence. On May 8, 2004, at 65438, the Municipal Women's Federation set up the "Domestic Violence Rescue Command Center" with the cooperation of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, requiring the 1 10 alarm station to give police instructions quickly when receiving the call for help from domestic violence victims, and not to prevaricate or shirk for any reason. On March 7, 2005, the Municipal Women's Federation and the Civil Affairs Bureau established the Qiqihar Women and Children Anti-Domestic Violence Shelter Center to provide staged shelter for women and children who have suffered from domestic violence and have no shelter for the time being, so as to effectively protect their personal rights and interests. Although these institutions have played an important role, they need to be further improved in the future and need strong support from the government and relevant departments.
(2) Incorporate "dealing with domestic violence" into the work plan of relevant departments and take it as one of the standards for supervision and evaluation. Since the Marriage Law entrusts the responsibility of dealing with "domestic violence" to neighborhood (village) committees, units and public security organs, these departments should perform their respective duties, otherwise it is illegal. As the first line of defense to dissuade and mediate "domestic violence", the neighborhood (village) Committee should set up a rights complaint station and establish a contact system with the police station within its jurisdiction; The police station shall designate a special person to investigate and deal with domestic violence cases, and punish the perpetrators of domestic violence who still do not change their bad habits after being handled by the rights complaint station in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Public Security. Article 1 1 of the Decision of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Heilongjiang Province stipulates that "if a law enforcement officer neglects his duty and fails to stop and deal with domestic violence that should be stopped and dealt with, resulting in intensified contradictions and death, serious injury or other serious consequences of the victim, the administrative or criminal responsibility of the person directly responsible shall be investigated according to law." Therefore, if the public security organs "do nothing", the victims of domestic violence can complain to the procuratorate and other legal supervision departments and hold the law enforcers accountable. In this way, a socialized operation mechanism has been formed to effectively stop domestic violence.
Third, strengthen legal publicity and legal supervision. The Marriage Law, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, and the Measures for Implementing the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in Heilongjiang Province clearly stipulate the sanctions against domestic violence. Therefore, the relevant departments should make extensive publicity so that women can learn to use legal weapons to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, strengthen law enforcement and supervision, and severely deal with units and individuals who do not abide by the law, forming a good situation in which the whole society pays close attention to the management of * * *.
Fourthly, it is suggested that the legislature revise the burden of proof system in domestic violence cases and implement the principle of inversion of burden of proof. Of all the laws in China, only the administrative procedure law implements the principle of inversion of burden of proof, that is, the accused administrative organ bears the burden of proof, and if the administrative organ fails to produce evidence or major evidence, it will bear the legal consequences of losing the case. This is because the specific administrative act that caused the administrative lawsuit was made by the administrative organ, and the facts and reasons of the specific administrative act were unilaterally decided by the administrative organ, and citizens, legal persons or other organizations could not know it. If the burden of proof is evenly distributed, it will be very unfavorable to the administrative counterpart in a weak position (citizens, legal persons or other organizations as plaintiffs), thus violating the principle of fairness of the law. By analogy, in domestic violence cases, the victims of domestic violence (mainly wives) are in a weak position in the lawsuit because of the objective situation. Therefore, the perpetrators of domestic violence (mainly husbands) should bear the main burden of proof, that is, to produce enough evidence to prove that they did not beat their wives or that the violence suffered by their wives had nothing to do with them, otherwise they will be punished by law. Under such a system of proof, some domestic violence that cannot be handled because of insufficient evidence will be punished by law.
Fifth, strengthen the cultivation of women's subjective consciousness, improve women's cultural knowledge level, and make women abandon dependence and conservative thinking, which is not only economically independent, but also ideologically liberated. Especially when women suffer from domestic violence for the first time, they must learn to say "no", actively seek the help of relevant departments, and must not compromise or obey. Practice has proved that the stronger women's resistance consciousness, the lower the degree of domestic violence.