Yes we are surprised as you .. thinking that in the main this was something practised by insane jihadists… but no
Read this Women of China Report…
http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/news/china/1411/207-1.htm
Buying Women and Children Outlawed in Criminal Law Amendments
November 3, 2014Editor: Amanda WuChange Text Size: A A A
Buying Women and Children Outlawed in Criminal Law Amendments
An abducted baby girl, less than a year old, is rescued in Hongqi Village, Leshan City, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province on February 19, 2014. [Xinhua/Hao Fan]
The action of buying women and children shall be met with criminal sanctions, as per a newly amended draft to the Criminal Law submitted to China’s top legislature on October 27, 2014.
These days, Deputy to the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) Yang Xie pays close attention to the Criminal Law’s review by the 12th NPC’s Standing Committee. During the 12th NPC’s Second Session in March 2014, Yang and more than 30 NPC deputies from southwest China’s Sichuan Delegation put forward a joint proposal to amend the Criminal Law in order to wipe out the buyer’s market and curb human trafficking from the source.
Their proposal was based on a survey that Yang, deputy director of the Standing Committee of Chengdu Municipal People’s Congress, led a group of lawyers to conduct on the abducting and trafficking of women and children in early 2014.
The survey found that the irrational punishments handed down to buyers were the main reason for the increase in human trafficking cases. The following is according to current Article 241 of the Criminal Law: Whoever, having bought a woman or child who is abducted and trafficked in, does not obstruct the woman from returning to her original place of residence according to her will or does not maltreat the child nor obstruct his or her rescue, may be exempted from being investigated for criminal activity.
In practice, judicial authorities do not usually impose criminal sanctions on most buyers based on this article, which effectively serves as a negative influence on the crackdown on human trafficking, found the survey.
“No buying, no human trafficking. If the profit chain is cut off, there is no reason for criminal offenders to undertake risks,” said Yang. When her proposal was submitted, a relevant department from the NPC Standing Committee contacted Yang and expressed that her proposal would be adopted in new amendments to the Criminal Law.
Outlawing the purchase of women and children is overdue progress for the Chinese legal system; and only once the buying is curbed will the abducting and trafficking of women and children naturally die out, commented an article on the Beijing News released on October 28, 2014.
