BEIJING – Together with Sohu.com, one of the largest portal websites in China, UNFPA China and its national partners held a forum on youth and gender-based violence on International Women’s Day, 8 March. Findings of the first quantitative research supported by UNFPA China on masculinity and gender-based violence were shared at the forum to disclose the gender norms that reveal unequal power relations between men and women. It is these unequal power relations, experts say, that may lead to gender-based violence. Gender experts from UNFPA, academia and NGOs participated in the panel and called for actions to involve young people to make them better understand gender issues and to become the champions in the fight against gender-based violence. The forum was broadcast online on Sohu under the headline “Awareness on Gender Equality is the Best Gift on International Women’s Day”.

Root causes of gender-based violence

Wen Hua, UNFPA China’s consultant on gender, kicked off the forum by pointing out the differences between the terms domestic violence, violence against women (VAW) and gender-based violence (GBV). Domestic violence is mainly used to refer to violence occurring in private space, which may include violence between spouses and child abuse by parents. The United Nations Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) defined violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." Gender-based violence is a broader term which looks deep into the root causes of violence. “No matter where it occurs, in the public arena, or private sphere, violence resulting from the root cause of unequal power relations between men and women can be called gender-based violence,” Wen Hua elaborated.

“Male dominance has been the mainstream in gender relations till now,” Feng Yuan, Director of a Chinese NGO China Anti-Domestic Violence Network, commented at the forum. She pointed out that about 90 per cent of those having suffered GBV are women, while the majority of perpetrators of violence are men, according to international surveys. In countries with a strong culture of son preference, a woman who gives birth to a baby girl may be abused by her mother-in-law for failing to bring a boy to the family. Such abuse is also deeply rooted in the unequal power relations between men and women that lead to baby boys being much more favored than girls.

Masculinity and gender-based violence

At the forum, Wang Xiangxian, the lead researcher of the first quantitative research on masculinity and gender-based violence supported by UNFPA China, presented the findings on gender norms showing the unequal power relations between men and women are still deeply embedded in gender norms, which are the root causes of VAW.

The researchers interviewed more than 2,000 men and women. Almost all of the respondents agreed with general statements on gender equality. However the research revealed that key elements of what is considered masculinity include the expectations that “real men” are tough, using violence to defend their honour, have power in family matters and are entitled to have sex irrespective of their partners’ willingness or lack of it.

The research data show that among 1,017 male respondents, 73 per cent believe that men should be tough; 52 per cent would use violence to defend their honour; and 72 per cent think that men should have decision power over major issues within the family.

In addition, of all the respondents interviewed, the majority of men (52 per cent) and women (71 per cent) agree that men need more sex than women, indicating sexual entitlement has been internalized both by men and women as a social norm.

Engage young people to make the positive change

To challenge the gender stereotypes, speakers said, young people should be engaged as the driving force to lead to positive changes.

“This case of the 17-year-old girl being burnt is just a tip of the iceberg,” said Wang Xiangxian. Wang was referring to a notorious case involving a girl from Anhui who suffered serious burns caused by fire lit by her boyfriend after dousing her in gasoline. In a study on teen dating violence she conducted a few years ago, Wang found that prevalence of dating violence in the past 12 months was as high as one third among 1,000 university students she interviewed.

This case has aroused heated debates among the public. In the beginning, most people showed great sympathy to the victim. But later on when the girl’s photos with other boys were publicized by the media, she was considered by many to have been “indecent”. Some people seem to think that if the girl had been close to a number of boys, in some way, she was to be blamed and her boyfriend’s behaviour would somewhat be justifiable. “Being the girlfriend of somebody does mean that she becomes the property of the person and is subject to violence,” Wen commented. She further stressed that the misleading media coverage also reflected the unequal nature of gender power relations that prevails in society.

Fang Gang, Director of the Institute of Sexuality and Gender Studies, pointed out the gaps in sexuality education for young people in China. “It is far from enough to only talk about sex and condom use in sexuality education,” Fang said. Comprehensive gender sensitive sexuality education should be put in place to orient young people to challenge stereotypes of gender norms and be more gender equitable.

“Gender education, not just sex education, should be provided at every stage of education, including kindergarten,” commented Feng Yuan from the Anti-Domestic Violence Network. She has led campaigns with Beijing university students since 2011, believing that immediate action from young people is the key to ending gender-based violence.

UNFPA, together with other UN agencies, will continue to support campaigns at the community level and in schools to raise awareness of gender equality and elimination of gender-based violence especially among young people.

For more information, please contact:

Gao Cuiling, gao@unfpa.org