White Ribbon to offer group counseling for domestic abusers in 2017

In the coming year, the White Ribbon campaign in China will begin to offer group counseling services for abusers in situations of domestic violence.

The China White Ribbon Volunteers Network (CWRVN) will join in, as one important group to offer counseling for abusers in 2017, said All-China Women's Federation director Gao Shawei in a letter addressed to the 4th China White Ribbon Volunteers Network Annual Meeting, held in Beijing on Nov. 18.

Founded in 2013, CWRVN is devoted to engaging men in the fight to end domestic violence, using advocacy, counseling and education.

"Abusers sometimes also call our hotline to seek help. In fact, the first counseling call was from a male abuser," said Fang Gang, the founder of the network and a famous sex researcher from Beijing Forestry University (BFU). Fang noted that it is hegemonic masculinity that leads to the demonstration of violence in the first place.

Echoing Fang, Wen Hua, a program officer with the United Nations Population Fund, told the meeting that it is crucial to call for male participation in the campaign, and to restructure social norms, which are currently permissive toward hegemonic masculinity in several countries in Asia.

Zhang Zhihui, a psychological consultant and also a Shanghai-based volunteer with the network, added that abusers have often been victims first.

"Abusers are usually self-abased and weak in communication and problem-solving skills. They also tend to have trouble controlling their tempers. For this reason, group counseling for abusers encourages participants to realize their value and work on anger management, as well as strengthen communication skills," said Ding Xinhua, vice dean of psychology at BFU.

Gao gave a great deal of credit to the network, which she said shared the same goal of promoting gender equality as the All-China Women's Federation. She also said she was delighted by the rapid development of the network in just a few years.

According to figures released at the annual meeting, the network has more than 1,480 registered volunteers as of October, and has set up service stations in 36 Chinese cities. The current body of volunteers has grown 145 percent from last year. It is expected to be close to 3,000 by 2017. The group offered more than 400 counseling sessions via their White Ribbon hotline in 2015, in addition to more than 100 in-person counseling sessions. Numerous support groups for victims or witnesses of domestic violence are also available.

Fang pointed out that the focus on counseling is characteristic of the White Ribbon campaign in China. At the meeting, CWRVN, together with the Australian Embassy, pledged to offer more support to 150 psychology consultants in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Qinghai province and Gansu province.

"I felt relief from my overwhelming loneliness after group counseling with White Ribbon, and after meeting other people who suffered from domestic violence. Now I finally realize that I am not a stain on society, and I am not to blame for what happened. I deserve to be respected and helped," said an anonymous recipient of White Ribbon services who suffered from violence at the hands of her father.

"Thanks to the counseling, I know that everything I've been through could have been prevented if more progress on gender equality were made. Luckily, as a mother myself, I can now guarantee that my story will not repeat itself in my child's life," she added.

The White Ribbon campaign originated in Canada in 1991, after 14 women were killed by a man. The campaign was launched by a group of Canadian men, utilizing the white ribbon as symbol of mourning, who pledged opposition to violence against women. The campaign has since spread to more than 60 countries, and has become the largest men's movement to prevent violence against women.