ABSTRACT
This chapter considers inequalities in Chinese law and policy at the nexus of gender, sexuality and violence. It argues that using male citizens as the standard has privileged the male experience of violence, essentialised violence against women, and overlooked violence where victims and perpetrators fall outside the gendered norms expressed and entrenched in laws. The chapter examines structural inequalities in the legislative and policy-making process that further exacerbate these disparities by privileging certain groups of individuals above others while shaping public discourse about anti-violence legal reform. The year 2014 marked the sixtieth anniversary of the first Constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which first articulated the principle that women in China enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of political, economic, cultural, social and family life. The current Chinese legal framework ignores violence against male victims and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) individuals.
