The First Chinese Law Against Domestic Violence, Efforts and Challanges : A qualitative analysis of the first Chinese Anti-DV law's implementation in its central cities

Abstract: The objective of this study is to examine the implementation of the first Chinese anti-domestic violence law at street-level in three cities located in central China. This study aims to document these street-level workers’ experiences with domestic violence, particularly the efforts they have made against domestic violence, as well as the challenges they face in their daily work. Sixteen qualitative interviews were conducted with nineteen street-level bureaucrats who work in judicial functionary (civil court), law enforcement (police), All-China Women’s Federation and residents’ committees (mass organizations). The results are analyzed with the theory of bottom-up implementation (Lipsky, 2010; Matland, 1995) and street-level bureaucracy (Erasmus, 2015). The study found that most Chinese street-level bureaucrats commonly believe that the first Chinese Anti-DV is characterized by ambiguity of goal and ambiguity of mean. Such vagueness causes frustrations, confusions and conflicts among these workers. Additionally, based on their experiences these street-level bureaucrats reflect that they do have some degree of discretion, but they are constantly under the pressure and limitation of time, resource and heavy workload. All these factors tend to indicate that the implementation of the first Anti-DV law in China still has a very long way to go. However, the result also show that the Chinese street-level bureaucrats are working diligently to ensure the successful implementation of China’s first anti-domestic law, while actively coping with the challenges mentioned previously and developing their own ways to cease the violence.