RRSPCGBP · The Rationale and Ramification of Sentencing and Punishment in China through a Gender Based Perspective

The proposed research project plans to explore the rationale and ramification of sentencing and punishment in contemporary China through investigating cases concerning gender and sexual identity, that is, sexual violence, sexual assault of minors/girls, and domestic violence, as well as the abuse of the criminal law in incriminating acts promoting the rights of sexual minorities. This research will provide a much-needed while still under-studied evidence-base, examining the relationship between gender and sexual identity and the criminal justice system in China, analysing to what extent the criminal law is utilised and/or abused in causing human rights violations. Based on the examination, the project will study civil society activism advocating for gender equality and the rights of sexual minorities in China as a critical bottom-up approach to address rights violations in individual cases as well as to advance the protection of human rights more broadly. This in-depth inquiry into civil society activism in the cases concerning gender and sexual identity will form a crucial basis for raising targeted plans and strategies addressing the potential restraints and strengthening its forces in working out effective social changes. This socio-legal research, drawing upon the qualitative analysis of cases, quantitative analysis of data, desk-based research on multiple disciplines including feminist jurisprudence, criminology, and human rights, and qualitative analysis of primary data obtained through interviews, aims at shedding light on the relationship and interplay between the state and individual citizen, between power and rights, as well as between patriarchy and authoritarianism. It carries a special significance against the current backdrop that democracy and liberalism have been facing intensifying backlash in Europe and also globally.