Cross Cultural Differences in Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is the physical, spiritual, psychological, sexual or financial intimidation by one intimate partner on the other partner. In this paper I am going to discuss about domestic violence in India and china.
In China domestic violence mostly involves men violating women, studies also say that it was very common in the years 1930s and 1940s. (The Lancet, 2016, p. 10) states that domestic violence is mostly encouraged by Chinese traditional practices and believes. Women are viewed as properties to their husbands, so Chinese men can use them in any way they like. For so many years Chinese women have been viewed to be inferior until lately that the Chinese government came with a law that will protect women against any domestic violence from their husbands. In the history of China women who were properties to their husbands were required to serve their men as slaves without any complains. The Chines court or society had not for a long time considered it as a problem until lately when there was a review of the Marriage act in their laws. Cases of men physically assaulting their women are very rampant in this country, the government has not tried enough to curb this, there is a saying in the Chinese community that states that 'if you don't beat up your woman every three days she will start tearing the roof tiles', which means that men have to beat up their wives to keep control of them. There have been few reported cases of women violating men either physically or emotionally in china. Although there are women who beat up their husbands because they do not provide for their families also some women kill themselves so as to emotionally torture their husbands.
Generally the Chinese culture in some way encourages domestic violence, most Chinese people base their judgments on the traditions which encourages men to assault women.
In India domestic violence is more serious where men violate women although there are few cases of women violating men too, but it is more to Islamic women than the other women. Current studies say that sexual violence is very little in India compared to other countries. In this country domestic violence has been facilitated by the Indian cultural practices and believes that have also viewed Indian women as inferior. This violence includes physical assault, psychological threats, rape cases, and emotional violence. Young female children grow knowing that they are weak and they need to be submissive to their men, hence men take this advantage to violate them. (Coomaraswamy, Meister, & Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1992, p. 23) states that women are are very vulnerable to any kind of violence, due to these the government of India began to come up with laws that will protect women against any domestic violence. The fact that men are superior and less violated by women in the Indian culture there have been cases where men are also physically or emotionally violated although this cases are very low. Domestic violence to young children is also very rampant in the Indian culture; there are cases where kids are tortured mentally or physically because of reasons such as poor performance or even others raping the kids.
In china the law protects women who are legally married to their husbands, any woman who is intimately into a man and it is not legal, the law doesn't protect them. On the other hand the Indian marital laws protect both of them from any kind of domestic violence. In China there are several reported cases of domestic violence as compared to India, this is because the Chinese traditional practices are still considered in the country which at large views women as inferior. The Indian community which has many religions has tried to limit cases of domestic violence. There is a difference in definition of family in the two countries cultures, hence in India a family is very large and involves even a woman who is intimate with a man but not yet legal while China they do not recognize that, this brings a difference in dealing with domestic violence. In Chinese traditions which allows men to physically assault their women according to Confucianism as part of discipline and also these tradition clearly doesn't allow any other party to enter into this family argument as it says that it a private matter, in India there have come many movements that are against women physical assaults. The Indian community doesn't view domestic violence a culture as seen in China, these is the reason why there are a few cases of domestic violence in India as compared to China. Although there have been many reported cases of rape in India than in China, these is because the Chinese traditions prohibit these kind of behavior.
The cultural practices of domestic violence in China cannot be accepted in India because India is currently fighting against domestic violence. Many religions in India are against domestic violence for example the cultural belief in china that makes women properties to men cannot be accepted in the current India culture.
There are many cultures in the world that are fighting against domestic violence, otherwise every country currently is working to eliminate cases of domestic violence more so the cases of women. The African culture which is known to preserve their traditions has many cases of domestic violence, many cases of women violence being reported. But in the current time these cases are fading away. The European culture is successfully almost eradicating cases of domestic violence; this is because of laws that are being formed to protect women and men. There are many groups and movements that are being formed to reduce cases of domestic violence all around the world. This has helped in educating people to respect the rights of other people especially in China and India.
Currently every culture is against domestic violence, this is because people are being educated the importance of respecting other people's rights, the traditional cultures in many countries that perceive women as inferior are fading away and this is what everyone is encouraging
In my country which is USA cases of domestic violence are very low, this is because there is a very strict law that protects each and every person in the country, I hope that every country copies the case in our country.
References
Bhattacharya, R. (2004). Behind closed doors: Domestic violence in India. New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Zhang, H. (n.d.). Scope of the Issue within Cultural Settings. Domestic Violence Laws in the United States and India. doi:10.1057/9781137387073.0007
Coomaraswamy, A. K., Meister, M. W., & Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. (1992). Essays in early Indian architecture. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
The Lancet. (2016). Domestic violence in China. The Lancet, 387(10023), 1028. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)00689-9