

Local political advisors are apparently very concerned over the wellbeing of China’s rural women whose husbands are away working big city jobs. with some saying that the women’s repressed sexual needs have ‘seriously jeopardized’ their physical and mental health, Global Times reports.

According to the report:

The longstanding absence of sex and affection from their spouses has seriously jeopardized the women’s physical and mental health, political advisor Xiong Tong said at the annual session of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which ended on Thursday.

The distance between either side of the couples also commonly threatens their marriages, as the men who have “broadened their horizons in cities” are prone to extramarital affairs, according to Xiong, who serves as vice mayor of Jiangxi’s Jinggangshan City.

Besides the sexual problem, Xiong said, the women are also struggling to manage multiple tiring tasks, including looking after children and the elderly, household chores and farm work, all alone.

In addition, without their husbands’ protection, such women often fall prey to violence and sexual assaults. But most victims choose to be silent about their suffering for fear of revenge or gossip, the vice mayor noted.