Author: Zhang Zhiquan
A few days ago, the "Guangdong Province Implementation of the "People's Republic of China Anti-Domestic Violence Law" Measures (Draft)" submitted for deliberation. The Measures (Draft) make detailed provisions on the basis of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law and innovate relevant work systems and measures. It clearly stipulates that minors who witness domestic violence are also victims of domestic violence. (Information Times, November 28)
In law, minors who witness domestic violence are clearly defined as victims of domestic violence, which some people may not fully understand. After all, minors who witness domestic violence are only indirect victims of domestic violence, and legislation to include them in the category of victims seems to be a bit of a fuss, but whether it is to protect the direct victims of domestic violence or to protect indirect victims, it is the proper meaning of the logic of the rule of law. Guangdong Province's inclusion of minors who witness domestic violence in the scope of protection of the law is not only an innovation in anti-domestic violence legislation, but also a due responsibility for protecting minors in accordance with the law.
Domestic violence is a social chronic disease that is incompatible with modern civilization, and it is natural to let it no longer be "capable" according to law. Among the targets of domestic violence, minors are a group that cannot be ignored. Although it has become a basic consensus to protect minors who have been wrongfully abused in domestic violence in accordance with the law, in reality, the public pays more attention to those minors who are directly harmed by domestic violence, and often ignores minors who have suffered physical and mental abuse due to witnessing domestic violence. This misunderstanding not only directly leads to the fact that minors who are victims of domestic violence are not included in the scope of legal protection, but also leads to many minors who witness domestic violence cannot get the psychological intervention they deserve, which is not conducive to their healthy growth.
Although minors who witness domestic violence do not face direct harm on the surface, some of the trauma caused to their psyche by domestic violence is even greater than the direct harm. Psychological studies have shown that minors who have witnessed domestic violence for a long time will not only have psychological shadows, but also under the subtle effect of domestic violence "near ink black", they may also have obvious violent tendencies when they grow up, and even form a distorted mind with an extreme personality.
Although the treatment of psychological trauma after witnessing domestic violence in minors can be corrected by appropriate psychological intervention, it must be understood that psychological intervention is always a sub-optimal means of governance at the end. In this case, taking the initiative to support the legal "umbrella" for minors who witness domestic violence should be the best choice to avoid domestic violence from indirectly destroying their physical and mental health from the source.
In recent years, China has made significant progress in protecting minors who have suffered domestic violence in accordance with the law, and laws such as the Law on the Protection of Minors, the Law on the Protection of Women's and Children's Rights and Interests, and the Marriage Law have all tightened the legal net against domestic violence for minors, and the first "Anti-Domestic Violence Law" has also made stronger provisions that are more conducive to the protection of minors. Looking at these laws, the main concern is on the protection of the rights and interests of minors after they are directly subjected to domestic violence, and there are no clear and specific provisions on the psychological harm suffered by minors due to witnessing domestic violence. The shortcomings of the law's objective existence of "one hundred secrets and one sparseness" have led to minors who have witnessed domestic violence being excluded from the door of legal protection after being violated, which objectively encourages some parents to unscrupulously carry out domestic violence in front of their children.
Protecting minors who witness domestic violence as victims of domestic violence in accordance with the law is a rational and pragmatic choice conducive to plugging loopholes in the rule of law, which meets the objective needs of reality. "Law is the final result of humanity's common good, by human intelligence following human experience." This essential nature of the law requires that it must be constantly adjusted with the times to protect minors from "soft harm" due to witnessing domestic violence, and it is no exception. Guangdong Province's adoption of local legislation to protect minors who witness domestic violence as victims of domestic violence in accordance with the law is a vivid legislative practice to protect minors from suffering "soft harm" from domestic violence in line with the times, which effectively reflects the progress of the rule of law, and is expected to release more positive energy to protect the rights and interests of minors in the legal practice of anti-domestic violence. (Zhang Zhiquan)