Cited by 38Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesFamily and Matrimonial LawDiscrimination and Equality Law

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 70 of the 70 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 14 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

“What He Did Was Lawful”: Divorce Litigation and Gender Inequality inChina

Open access
Li, Ke·2015·Law & Policy

Abstract

Sociolegal research has shed considerable light on gender inequality in the civil justice system. Existing research, however, rarely looks beyond court proceedings to examine gender inequality stemming from the prior stages in civil litigation. This article fills the gap by addressing the question of whether and how the early moments in disputing produce inequality between women and men. Based on a mixed‐methods study of divorce litigation in C hina, I identify two critical moments in the early stages in disputing: the initiation stage and the suit‐filing stage. Findings from the two stages indicate that, early on in disputing, the legal profession routinely dismisses and violates women's rights in marriage and family. Moreover, due to the legal profession's failure to convert important rights on the books into formal claims, women's marital grievances and rights claims fall through cracks long before they can enter court proceedings. These findings suggest that gender inequality can result not only from judicial decision making, but also from dispute processing conducted prior to—and outside of—court proceedings.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/lapo.12034

Cites

70 of 70 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

56 Own result · 48 Own interpretation · 12 No basis given · 10 Sources not found · 5 Own method · 4 No full text of the sources

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 19
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 16
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
31 of 31
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The 60 face-to-face interactions in the observational sample are representative of legal workers' interactions with rural disputants in Guxiao and Xiqing.

    “I did so by observing and recording a sample of sixty face-to-face interactions (hereafter referred to as the observational sample): forty centered on legal workers' meetings with female disputants and the other twenty with male disputants.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The 171 divorce lawsuits in the archival sample are representative of divorce litigation in the two townships.

    “After clearing incomplete case records, I formed a sample of 171 divorce lawsuits (hereafter referred to as the archival sample).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Legal workers' claim-making in the sampled divorce petitions reflects the legal profession's claim-making activities more broadly.

    “To this intent, I reviewed divorce petitions legal workers submitted to the courts, with a particular focus on their claim making regarding child custody, property division, and domestic violence-the most typically contested issues in divorce lawsuits.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Gender disparities in legal workers' responses are due to gender bias rather than other factors such as case characteristics or client behavior.

    “Using ethnographic examples retrieved from the observational sample, this section demonstrates how gender disparities emerged from divorcing women and men's initial encounters with the legal profession.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The semipublic setting did not substantially alter legal workers' behavior during observed interactions.

    “The semipublic nature of the setting, together with my status as a native Chinese speaker, rendered my observations of the face-to-face interactions between legal workers and marital disputants much less obtrusive than they otherwise might have been.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The two townships Guxiao and Xiqing are representative of rural China for the purpose of generalizing about divorce litigation and gender inequality.

    “With the backdrop described above in mind, I conducted a mixed-methods study of divorce litigation in two townships in southwest China: Guxiao and Xiqing (the names are pseudonyms).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The legal workers' office records are complete and accurate.

    “This effort grew into a systematic examination of all the 211 divorce case records I could find in this office.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    According to patrilineal tradition in rural China, children, especially sons, should be raised by their biological fathers and carry on family lineage.

    “According to this tradition, children, and especially sons, should be raised by their biological fathers and, in turn, carry on family lineage.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In divorce cases, legal workers typically charge their clients a fixed amount of fees in advance.

    “In divorce cases, legal workers typically charge their clients a fixed amount of fees in advance.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Since the second term of Xiao Yang (2004-2008), Chinese courts have introduced a series of judicial interpretations to steer judges toward dispute settlements through court-based mediation.

    “Since the second term of Xiao Yang (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008), the then president of the Supreme People's Court, Chinese courts have introduced a series of judicial interpretations to steer judges toward dispute settlements through court-based mediation.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Marriage Law stipulates that victims of domestic violence are entitled to damages at the time of divorce.

    “The Marriage Law clearly stipulates that victims of domestic violence are entitled to damages at the time of divorce.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    China still does not recognize marital rape in its national laws.

    “To date, China still does not recognize marital rape in its national laws.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Neither the Marriage Law nor related judicial interpretations provide clear guidelines for assessing evidence related to domestic violence, evaluating victimization, or allocating damages.

    “For example, neither the Marriage Law nor related judicial interpretations provide clear guidelines for assessing evidence related to domestic violence, evaluating victimization, or allocating damages.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    No evidence indicates that female legal workers fare better than women lawyers relative to their male counterparts.

    “So far, no evidence indicates that female legal workers fare better than women lawyers relative to their male counterparts.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Survey research conducted in Western countries and in China provides little information about gender differences in access to justice, because much of it has been collected at the household level.

    “Currently, survey research conducted in Western countries and in China provides little information about gender differences in access to justice, because much of it has been collected at the household level.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In the context of divorce litigation, the only exception to the general rule that courts can skip rulings over matters not claimed is allocation of child custody.

    “In the context of divorce litigation, the only exception to this general rule is allocation of child custody.”
16 of 16

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Show all 64 references

Research works printed but not linked: 12

  1. Alford William P., 2003, Ideas of Freedom in the Chinese World
  2. China Institute of Applied Jurisprudence of the Supreme People's Court, 2008, Guidelines for Rulings over Cases Involving Domestic Violence
  3. Criminal Division One of the Supreme People's Court, 2001, Criminal Trial Guide
  4. Huang Philip C. C., 2008, Quzheng Chenxu de Gaige: Lihunfa de Heli yu bu Heli Shijian [Reform of Evidence Procedures: the Reasonable and Unreasonable Practices of Divorce Law], Zhengfa Luntan, 26, 3
  5. Li Haiwei, 2009, Chinese Yearbook of Lawyers
  6. Li Ke, 2015, Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties: Global Perspectives on Modern Marriage Crises
  7. Liu Xiaonan, 2009, A Study of Chinese Women in Legal Education and Law Firms, Journal of Chinese Legal Studies, 75, 132
  8. Schafran Lynn Hecht, 1987, Documenting Gender Bias in the Courts: The Task Force Approach, Judicature, 70, 280
  9. Wang Yaping, 2009, China Social Statistical Yearbook
  10. Xu Anqi, 2007, A Discussion of Divorce, Women's Staus, and Rights, Zhejiang Journal, 1, 198
  11. Zhu Geping, 2011, The Law Yearbook of China
  12. Zhu Jingwen, 2008, An Analysis of the Professionalization of Chinese Legal Workers: the Tendencies, Problems, and Solutions, Legal Studies, 5, 23

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 38

Metadata

Authors
Li, K.
Affiliations
Indiana University (US)
Corresponding author
Li, Ke
ORCID
Li, Ke
Venue
Law & Policy
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-06-09
Volume
37
Issue
3
Pages
153-179
ISSN
  • 0265-8240 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9930
OpenAlex
W3125682056
Cited by
37
References
64
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3
FWCI
3.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Law & Policy (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0960759)
  • Social Science Research Council
  • Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange
  • China Times Cultural Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Law › Family and Matrimonial Law
  • Social Sciences › Law › Discrimination and Equality Law
Keywords
divorce proceedings, gender inequality, women's rights, civil justice system, legal profession, marital rights, family law, dispute initiation

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