Protection at Home

By+Li+Li

Kim Lee， a former English teacher from Miami， Florida， was long known to English learners in China as the wife of Li Yang. Li achieved fame for creating an unorthodox method of learning English he branded“Crazy English，” which featured shouting English the top of ones lungs. He founded his own company in the 1990s and went on to take Lee as his bride in 2005.

The couple met in China in 1999 when Lee came to the country as a member of a Miami teachers union on a research trip. Later， Lee joined the Crazy English team and embraced a lifestyle of being greeted by frenzied crowds who were swept up in the hope of transforming their lives by learning English.

However， Lee became a household name overnight as “a folk hero for Chinas battered wives” on August 30， 2011， when she uploaded photos of her injuries to the Internet and went public with her husbands abuse. Next to pictures showing severe bruises on her head and knees， she wrote down details of domestic violence that happened to her.

Lee filed for a divorce in October 2011 at a Beijing court， drawing headlines and tens of thousands of online comments. Most people expressed sympathy for Lee while condemning her husband， who later admitted his wrongdoings to the media.

On February 3， 2013， Lee was granted a divorce on the grounds of domestic violence.

Lee received full custody of her three daughters. In addition to child support， Li was ordered to pay 12 million yuan （$2 million） worth of assets to Lee and a further 50，000 yuan （$8，200） in compensation for psychological trauma caused to Lee during the abusive marriage. The court also issued a three-month restraining order barring Li from beating or threatening Lee. After Li failed to pay his ex-wife her share of the family property within three months after their divorce， as was ruled by the court， Lee filed for compulsory enforcement of court decisions on June 20， 2013， after the expiration of the restraining order. Lee told Law& Life magazine that her ex-husband retaliated by sending her abusive and threatening text messages the next day. Lee filed for a second restraining order against her ex-husband on September 16， 2013. Neither Lee nor her at- torney commented on the status of the second restraining order when contacted by Beijing Review.

Stopping abuse

Though they have been in existence for more than six years， civil protection orders are a relatively new concept in China.

The first such order in the country was issued by a court in Wuxi City， east Chinas Jiangsu Province， on August 6， 2008， to protect a wife who had been beaten up by her husband repeatedly.endprint

Just under two weeks earlier， on July 22， the woman applied to the court for both a divorce and an injunction against her husband to be effective during divorce proceedings. She used photos of her injuries， medical records and a testimony by a local womens federation as evidence. Her husband denied none of the accusations. The court granted the wife a three-month restraining order and the couple divorced two weeks later.

In March 2008， before the Wuxi case， the China Institute of Applied Jurisprudence under the Supreme Peoples Court， Chinas highest judicial body， issued the Handbook on Marriage Cases Involving Domestic Violence for judges hearing marital cases， which contained descriptions of how judges can issue civil protection orders to provide protection for victims of domestic violence.

Immediately after the handbook came out， the Supreme Peoples Court launched a pilot program， authorizing nine county- and districtlevel courts to issue civil protection orders on behalf of victims of domestic violence in marital cases on the basis of the handbook. By the end of 2010， the number of courts participating in the program had risen to 82. In addition， the higher peoples courts in Hunan， Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces also launched pilot programs within their jurisdictions.

According to an article published in Law & Life， a total of more than 200 civil protection orders had been granted by courts in China by the end of 2012 and only four had been disobeyed， which showed the effectiveness of protection orders in safeguarding victims. Landmark cases included the first order to protect a domestic violence victim from a non-marital partner in September 2012 and the first order to protect a male domestic violence victim and his parents in June 2010.

However， the handbook is not a legal document， and it is not binding on judges. As a result， several provincial higher peoples courts had issued regulations regarding the issuance of civil protection orders in marital cases that cite extracts from the handbook. These regulations are legally binding in their jurisdictions.

The amended Civil Procedure Law， which took effect on January 1， 2013， is the first Chinese law to provide a legal basis for the issuance of civil protection orders.

Article 100 of the law states that when a partys actions or other factors may hinder a judgments execution or cause harm to another party， the court， upon application from the victim， can issue an order to preserve the victims assets and order the party responsible to carry out or refrain from carrying out certain acts. When no application is filed， the court can still order preservation measures when necessary. During emergent situations， the court should rule within 48 hours after receiving an application and preservation measures should become effective immediately.endprint