After domestic abuse, seek immediate safety, preserve a police record, and consider a free protection order

A personal-safety protection-order application has no court fee and requires no security deposit. Reporting, medical assessment, and preparing the application take time. Asking for action against a family member can be emotionally difficult.

A systematic review covering 66 countries estimated that intimate partners committed 38.6% of female homicides and 6.3% of male homicides. The authors described many such killings as the endpoint of prolonged abuse. Another study compared 506 homicide or attempted-homicide cases with 427 abused women without those outcomes. Prior nonfatal strangulation by a partner was associated with attempted homicide, OR 6.70 (95% CI 3.91–11.49), and homicide, OR 7.48 (4.53–12.35). Under China’s Anti-Domestic Violence Law, victims and close relatives may report abuse. Police must respond promptly, stop the violence, gather evidence, and help with treatment and injury assessment. Less serious cases may receive a formal warning letter. A victim of violence or a real threat of it may apply for a protection order, with a ruling within 72 hours of acceptance, or 24 hours for emergencies. Orders can prohibit violence, harassment, stalking, or contact with the applicant and close relatives, and require the respondent to leave the applicant’s residence. An order lasts up to six months and can be extended on application before expiry. Divorce proceedings are not a prerequisite. A sufficiently high probability of domestic violence can support issuance. Breach can bring a fine up to RMB 1,000 or detention up to 15 days; conduct meeting the criminal threshold can be prosecuted as refusal to enforce a judgment or ruling. Repeated insults, threats, stalking, harassment, and deliberate deprivation of warmth or food can also constitute domestic violence.

The homicide figures are international, not a same-definition public estimate for China. Preserve police attendance records, warning letters, injury assessments, treatment records, written promises, messages, and lawful recordings. A lawyer is not required for a protection order, and a decision is usually due within days. Divorce or compensation is a separate case; ordinary first-instance civil proceedings have a six-month statutory period, and private representation costs extra. Domestic-abuse victims can seek legal aid and deferred, reduced, or waived court fees. A protection order does not guarantee immediate physical safety: call 110 if danger is present. Where coercion or intimidation prevents the victim applying personally, close relatives, police, women’s federations, and residents’ or village committees may apply on their behalf under the law. You can accompany a friend or colleague to police or hospital. If you witness violence in a stranger’s home, report it rather than physically entering the conflict; see avoiding a fight.

Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (2015). Anti-Domestic Violence Law, Articles 2, 13, 15, 16, 19, 23, 28–30, and 34. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=2c909fdd678bf17901678bf7f9d60889; Supreme People’s Court (2022). Provisions on personal-safety protection-order cases, Judicial Interpretation 2022 No. 17, Articles 1, 3, 6, 10, and 12. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/366021.html; Supreme People’s Court (2016). Reply on protection-order procedures, Judicial Interpretation 2016 No. 15, items 1 and 2, reposted by Pingyuan County People’s Court. http://qdzy.sdcourt.gov.cn/dzpyfy/393141/393283/1461545/index.html; Stöckl H et al. (2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner homicide: a systematic review. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61030-2; Glass N et al. (2008). Non-fatal strangulation is an important risk factor for homicide of women. Journal of Emergency Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.02.065.